The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1885-09-20
HOW TO TAME COCKROACHES.
interesting Itcms-CultivatinGt the Insects
Acquaintance-Cat-Li Qualities.

interesting Itcms-CuItivating the Insects
Acquaintance-Cat-L Like Qualities.
iRcv. J. c. Wood in Youths Companon.l
The first point to be gained was to
Il tin the insects by degrees, and ac
custom their eyes to light. put half
dozen of them, three males and three
females, under large glass bell, to-
gether with pieces of bread, meat, ETC.,
and very shallow vessel containing
water. \ few rough nints were ar
ranged in the center SO as to afford q
refuge for the insects
The glass was placed on a tray, which
was set on my working table, and al
most touching my desk. rs might be
expected no sooner had they been
placed in the vessel than they ran under
the Limits for shelter, SO that nothing
could be seen of them except the long
antcnlr, which seem never to be still.
FOR II few days they renamed in their
hiding place, only coming out to feed
after dark. kut as the gas was lighted
when darkness came on, the cockrOacheS
found their feeding time unplcasantly
circumscriIed, and began to run out
even in daylight, snatch up u piece of
food, and return with it to their shell
ter.
by degrees they became bolder, and
If gave them u piece OF bread dipped
in milk, they would come out and feed
rs long as | remained perfectly quiet,
but would scurry back to their shelter If
l only turned my head. However, they
Soon found out that they suffered no
harm by movement on my part, and
in "a week or SO they would 90 on feed
ing when | dipped my pen III the ink,
or even If rose from my chair. Then
4 Of tho tinfG so nc fn
diminish their shelter, and rs they be-
came accustomed to their position, | re-
moved the others, until al last they had
no shelter at all the removal of the
last flint disconnected them for q little
time, but they soon got over the loss,
and seemed perfectly at their ease.
Nothing struck me more fOrcibly than
the difference of their attitude and geS-
lures, after they were accustomed to the
change. Instead of crOuchinG To the
ground, and either remaining still as if
they had been petrilied, or scurrying
away at their best speed, they moved
quietly about, and when they wanted
to examine any object, raised themselves
quite high on their long legs, and had
look of confident intelligence. Almost
similar gesture may be seen i'll the
shore crabs when hunting for prey. The
WHOIt utillcdHOf Oh inc lllScCJ WIS III
tered, so that it was hardly recOgniz-
able. We have all seen cat lying in
front of the fire, with her kittens round
her, and must have admired the uncon-
.5cious grace of the animals attitude.
But let u strange dog como into the
room, and see how the creature alters.
Her back arches, her tail swells to thrice
its ordinary size, her cars are laid back,
and her teeth are barred.
Now the daylight acts on the cock
roach as the strange dog acts on the
cat But, if the dog and eat he properly
introduced, pussy soon becomes accus
toned to the dog, resumes her former
demeanor, and the two foes become firm
friends.
So it was with the cOckrOacheS, which
in many poirsS reminded me of the cat.
No cat can be more inquiSitivo than the
cockrOach. If | put under the glass
something which they had not seen be-
fore, they were all around it. At first,
they would walk backward and forward
by it, sweeping their long antennr over
it in graceful curves. Then they would
come close to it, pass their heads over
it, and evidently eXcrci-o the sense of
smell. Having satisfied their curiosity,
they ieft it, and never troubled them
selves about it again.