272 



HARDWICK&S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



easily be known from the woodlouse, from the fact 

 that its legs all originate on a single line in the 

 middle of the under-surface of the body, so that 

 when the creature is walking, the legs do not appear 

 at all beyond the edge of its shelly covering. It is 

 much shorter than Julus sabulosus and Julus ter~ 



taint the air. They are nocturnal in their habits, 

 as are most of the creatures which find a refuge under 

 stones, and in order to see them in the day time, we 

 must search in such haunts as these. They come 

 out with the bat and the owl, and in the dusk of the 

 evening may be found taking their walks abroad. 



Fig. 107. — Group of Centipedes— 1, Glcmeris margittata ; 2, Julus tcrrestris ; 3, Polydesmvs coiirf>lanaius ; 4, Folyxcncs ; 

 5, Gcophilus longicomis ; 6, Litlwbiusforficatus; 7, Scutigera colcoptrata. 



restris, and has from seventeen to twenty-one pairs of 

 legs. 



The millepedes feed on decaying animal and 

 vegetable substances, and seldom, if ever, attack 

 living vr.getation. Thus they are useful as scavengers, 

 clearing away much refuse which would otherwise 



In the spring the female millepede sets herself 

 industriously to work to scoop out a hole in the 

 earth, which she intends as a cradle for the reception 

 of her future offspring. When the hole is finished, 

 she makes haste to deposit therein sixty or seventy 

 eggs, which remain about three weeks before they 



