112 S. J. McINTIRE ON THE PENCIL-TAIL. 



yellowish-grey, with three brown bands extending from head to 

 tail ; the scales are of leaden hue, and curiously sculptured ; while 

 the double bunch of hairs at the caudal extremity glistens like 

 frosted silver or driven snow.* 



The head is abundantly furnished with fantastic rows of erect 

 scales, among which the antennae may be seen rapidly vibrating, 

 and occasionally the strange-looking little groups of simple eyes, 

 situated at the sides of the head, appear for an instant and then are 

 • obscured. Bye-and-bye the pencil-tail, which seems to love dark- 

 ness rather than light, exposes its ventral surface to the bright 

 beam of light we have cast upon it, by climbing upon the cover of 

 the cell, and the aspect now is quite as bizarre as that I have 

 endeavoured most ineffectually to describe. Such a regular array 

 of many-jointed feet ending in sharp claws, all in motion ; such a 

 curious mouth ; the integument of the belly folding into rhombs 

 and triangles as it moves ; but there ! I know my listeners will 

 endeavour to see this little creature for themselves, so I need not 

 expatiate further in this fragmentary educational sketch. 



Should any one be induced to study the anatomy beyond the 

 points I bring forward now, and let us hear the results of his 

 observations, we shall all be the better for it, and my object will be 

 attained. In order to assist such enquirers, I have searched for 

 and collected -the following notes respecting the Myriapoda : — 



Until 1867 only two orders were recognised in the group of 

 Myriapods — viz., the Chilopods and the Diplopods. The former 

 are all " active and carnivorous," and the latter " sluggish vege- 

 tarians." So says Sir John Lubbock in his paper in the Linnean 

 Transactions, on Pauropus, a creature possessing so much in 

 common with each of these orders, and yet so much distinctive, 

 that its claim to be considered as the representative of a third order 

 of Myriapods is now, I think, undisputed. I quote a few of his 

 remarks : — 



" Chilopods. — Antennae 14-jointed at least ; one pair of legs 

 modified into powerful jaw-feet ; generative organs opening at the 

 posterior extremity of the body ; legs in single pairs. 



" Diplopods. — Antennae with not more than seven segments ; no 

 jaw-feet ; apertures of the generative organs in the anterior part of 

 the body ; legs, after the first six, arranged in double pairs." 



* These hairs are figured in Carpenter as ' ' Hair of Myriapod." 



