Sloane tells us the Indians of Jamaica drink the ashes of Cockroaches in physic: bruise and mix them with sugar and apply them to ulcers and cancers to suppurate; and are said also to give them to kill worms in children.[242] Dr. James, quoting Dioscorides, Lib. II. cap. 38, remarks: “The inside of the Blatta (B. foetida, Monf. 138), which is found in bake-houses, bruised or boiled in oil, and dropped into the ears, eases the pains thereof.”[243] It is most probable the insect now called Blatta is not at all meant by either of the above gentlemen. The Blatta of Dioscorides is quite likely the Blatta of Pliny, which has been with good reason conjectured to be the modern Blaps mortisaga—the common Church-yard beetle.
In England, the hedge-hog, Erinaceus Europæus, from its fondness for insects and its nocturnal habits, is often kept domesticated in kitchens to destroy the Cockroaches with which they are infested; and the housekeepers of Jamaica, as we are informed by Sir Hans Sloane, for the same reasons and purpose, keep large spiders in their houses.[244] A species of monkey, Simia jacchus, and a species of lemur, L. tardigradus, are also made use of for destroying these insects, especially on board ships.[245] Mr. Neill, in the Magazine of Natural History, in his account of the above-mentioned species of monkey, says: “By chance we observed it devouring a large Cockroach, which it had caught running along the deck of the vessel; and, from this time to nearly the end of the voyage, a space of four or five
weeks, it fed almost exclusively on these insects, and contributed most effectually to rid the vessel of them. It frequently ate a score of the largest kind, which are from two to two and a half inches long, and a very great number of the smaller ones, three or four times in the course of the day. It was quite amusing to see it at its meal. When he had got hold of one of the largest Cockroaches, he held it in his fore-paws, and then invariably nipped the head off first; he then pulled out the viscera and cast them aside, and devoured the rest of the body, rejecting the dry elytra and wings, and also the legs of the insect, which are covered with short stiff bristles. The small Cockroaches he ate without such fastidious nicety.”[246]
The common Cockroach, or Black-beetle, as it is sometimes vulgarly called, the Blatta orientalis, is said originally to be a native of India, and introduced here, as well as in every other part of the civilized globe, through the medium of commerce. In England, another species, said to be a native of America, Blatta Americana, larger than the last, is now also becoming very common, especially in seaport towns where merchandise is stored.[247]
An old Swede, Luen Laock, one of the first Swedish clergymen that came to Pennsylvania, told the traveler Kalm, that in his younger days, he had once been very much frightened by a Cockroach, which crept into his ear while he was asleep. Waking suddenly, he jumped out of bed, which caused the insect, most probably out of fear, to strive with all its strength to get deeper into his skull, producing such excruciating pain that he imagined his head was bursting, and he almost fell senseless to the floor. Hastening, however, to the well, he drew a bucket of water, and threw some in his ear. The Roach then finding itself in danger of being drowned, quickly pushed out backward, and as quickly delivered the poor Swede from his pain and fears.[248]
The proverbial expression “Sound as a Roach” is supposed
to have been derived from familiarity with the legend and attributes of the Saint Roche,—the esteemed saint of all afflicted with the plague, a disease of common occurrence in England when the streets were narrow, and without sewers, houses without boarded floors, and our ancestors without linen. They believed that the miraculous St. Roche could make them as “sound” as himself.[249]
A quite common superstitious practice, in order to rid a house of Cockroaches, is in vogue in our country at the present time. It is no other than to address these pests a written letter containing the following words, or to this effect: “O, Roaches, you have troubled me long enough, go now and trouble my neighbors.” This letter must be put where they most swarm, after sealing and going through with the other customary forms of letter writing. It is well, too, to write legibly and punctuate according to rule.
Another receipt for driving away Cockroaches is as follows: Close in an envelope several of these insects, and drop it in the street unseen, and the remaining Roaches will all go to the finder of the parcel.
It is also said that if a looking-glass be held before Roaches, they will be so frightened as to leave the premises.