THE WORLD OF :MYKIAP0DS AM) A LAND 

 CRUSTACEAN 



Every one who has turiu'd over a rotten h)g lias seen these thousaud-leg>;e(l 

 wornis, and yet I wonder if many ui us have known that these weird wandering 

 things resemble, and are the direct living descendants of some of the first 

 animals which crept up out oi the sea to live uiKin the land. 



Long ages before the warm-blooded, lung-breathing beasts came into 

 existence, they worked their way up out of their water life among the corals, 

 sponges, wornis, shellfish, and fishes, onto the dry land. 



This was in the great transition time when all sorts of anii)hibian monsters 

 came into existence, monsters which have long since passed away. These 

 myriapods deser\-e respect if for no other reason than because their forefathers 

 cre])t across the fresh footprints and mud wallows of the prehistoric monsters. 



How comes it that these forms of life have changed so little in a million 

 years.'' 



