504 
CENTIPEDE, 
tion, the two fangs meeting horizontally when in 
aetion: these fangs are furnished on the inside, 
near the tip, with an oblong slit, through which, 
during the act of wounding, an acrimonious or 
poisonous fluid is discharged; the eyes are several 
in number on each side the head, and arc placed 
in a small oval grouper the legs are twenty on 
each side the bod}^, and the tail is terminated by 
a pair of processes, which perfectly resemble the 
rest of the legs, except that they are larger, and 
have the first joints strongly spined or muricated 
on the inside. These horrible insects are said to 
be chiefly found in woods, but, like the small 
European species, they are occasionally seen in 
houses, and are said to be so common in some par- 
ticular districts that the inhabitants are obliged to 
place the feet of their beds in vessels of water, in 
order to prevent their attacks during the night. 
Scolopendra Plumieri or Flumier’s Scolopendra 
is of much greater length than the former, some- 
times measuring a foot and a half: it is figured in 
the sixth plate. of Lister’s Journey to Paris, from 
a drawing by the celebrated Father Plumier, who 
had then lately arrived from America: it is also 
elegantly represented in the first volume of Seba’s 
Thesaurus, under the title of M'llkpeda major e.v 
Nova Hispania. According to the description and 
figure of Seba, the body consists of thirty-two 
joints, exclusive of the head and tail. Seba’s 
figure must also be suj)])()sed by far the most cor- 
rect of the two, tliat of Plumier, in the work above 
referred to, having rather the appearance ol a 
