ii HABITS AND DISTRIBUTION 33 



Lithobius with which 1 had become acquainted in the heat of 

 the low country, quite at home among the snow, and as common 

 as in, what I should have imagined to be, the more congenial 

 climate. Nor were they any the less lively. Far from exhibit- 

 ing any sort of torpor from the cold, the first one which I 

 triumphantly seized in my forceps wriggled himself loose and 

 fastened on my finger with a vigour which made me as anxious 

 to get rid of him as I had formerly been to secure him. How- 

 ever, he eventually went into my collecting box. 



On the whole, we may say that the Chilopoda are most 

 largely represented in the hotter climates, where they find a 

 more abundant diet in the rich insect life of the tropical and 

 semi-tropical countries. The more brightly -coloured Myriapods, 

 too, are for the most part inhabitants of the warmer countries. 

 The ease with which they are introduced into a country in the 

 earth round plants, and in boxes of fruit, may account to a great 

 extent for the wide distribution of the various species in 

 different countries. Mr. Pocock, who examined the Myriapods 

 brought back from the " Challenger " Expedition, informs us that 

 of ten species brought from Bermuda, four had been introduced 

 from the West Indies. There is no doubt that animals which 

 can bear changes of temperature and deprivation of food, and 

 even a short immersion in the water, are well calculated to be 

 introduced into strange countries in many unexpected ways. 



As might be expected from a class of animals so widely 

 distributed, Myriapods show an almost infinite variety of size 

 and colour. We find them so small that we can hardly see 

 them with the naked eye, as in the case of the tiny Polyxenus, 

 the Pauropidae, and the Scolopendrellidae. We also find them 

 more than six inches in length, as the larger species of Scolo- 

 pendridae. I am afraid we must dismiss as an exaggeration an 

 account of Centipedes in Carthageria a yard in length, and more 

 than six inches in breadth. The giver of this account Ulloa 

 informs us that the bite of this gigantic serpent-like creature 

 is mortal if a timely remedy be not applied. It is certainly 

 extremely probable that the bite of a Centipede of this size would 

 be fatal to any one. Some Centipedes are short and broad, and 

 composed of few segments, as Glomeris ; some are long and thin, 

 with more than a hundred segments, as Geophilus. They may be 

 beautifully coloured with brilliant streaks of colour, as in some 

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