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XXVIII. Monograph of the Class Myriapoda, Order Chilopoda. By George 

 Newport, Esq., Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, President of the 

 Entomological Society, 8^c. Communicated by the Secretary. {Continued 

 from p. 302.) 



Read March 19th. April 2nd and 16th. 1844. 



Class MYRIAPODA. 

 Order 1. Chilopoda. 



Family ]. Cermatiid^. 



XHIS family is at present composed of only a single genus, Cermatia of 

 Illiger, Leach, &c. It presents many analogies with the higher Articulata, 

 and seems to represent in the osculant class Myriapoda the active and rapa- 

 cious Cicindela among Insects. The general structure and habits of the two 

 are in many respects very similar. The form of the head, the long setaceous 

 antennae, the prehensile forcipated mandibles, the elongated palpi, the pro- 

 jecting, compound organs of vision, the elongation of the limbs, and the more 

 compact form of body, are all indications of a higher degree of organization 

 in this family than in others of the same class, and place it as much above the 

 other genera of Myriapoda as the more complete organization of the preda- 

 ceous Cicindela places that genus at the head of true 7«*ec^*. But while the 

 general form of body, the elongated antennae, and the compound organs of 

 vision approximate the Cermatiidw to Insects, the parts of the mouth, the 

 structure of the legs, and more especially the multiplicity of the tarsal joints, 

 bring them near to the Arachnida, to which also they are closely allied in their 

 great activity and predaceous habits. The Cermatiidoi are as much superior 

 in the whole of their anatomical structure to the other genera of Chilopoda, as 

 the lowest Chilopoda are to the lower vermiform Chilognatha. The head and 

 organs of vision resemble those of Insects, and the body is compact and formed 



