LITTLE EIVER GEOUP, No. IIL lOS 



ance of their bearing upon the classitication of insects, has l)econie more manifest. A sketch 

 of the discoveries of fossil Myriaiiods whicii have been made from time to time, may serve 

 to show how rare an event is the discovery of the remains of one of these little animals. 



In 1854, C. L. Koch and J. C. Berendt described the Crustaceans, Myriapods and 

 Spiders of the Amber of Vorwelt, North Germany. These amber fragments which contain 

 a rich insect tauna, admirably preserved, have yielded 35 species of Myriapods (15 Chilopods 

 and 20 Diplopods) and are of late Tertiary age. 



In 1859, Sir J. W. Dawson found and described ' remains of a species of Millipede 

 (Xylohius Sigillariœ) in erect stumps of trees in the Coal-measures at the Joggins in ISTova 

 Scotia. At a later period (1873) Dr. S. H. Scudder, of Cambridge, Mass., reviewed the 

 Millipede remains from these stumps, found three species of the genus established by Sir 

 Wm. Dawson, and established the new genus Arehiulus. 



In 1863, J. W. Salter described two fossils from the English Coal-measures under the 

 genus Eurypterus. These specimens were re-examined by Mr. Henry Woodward and found 

 to be of other genera. One, J?. annatus,\iQ suggested was a gigantic Arachnid, and the 

 other, E. ferox, was plainly a species of Meek and "Worthen's new genus Euphoberia, and 

 therefore a Myriapod. 



Salter in that year also described a Eurypterus from the plant beds at St. John, N". B. 

 Later discoveries lead the author to think tliat this species, E. pulicaris, should also be 

 referred to the Myriapods, or to the insects. 



In 1868, A. Dohrn described a Millipede from the coal beds of Saarbruck, in Germany. 

 These beds are of Permian age. 



In 1868, Meek and Wortheu began to make known those remarkable Myriapods from 

 the Lower Coal-measures of Mazon Creek, 111., which, together with the plants found there, 

 have made that locality famous. The Myriapods were more fully described by Dr. Scudder 

 at a later date, with more ample material at his command, and such was the extraordinary- 

 nature of these remains, that their study quite revolutionized the classitication of this 

 group of Articulates. 



In 1871, H. "Woodward discovered a Myriapod (Euphoberia) in the English Coal- 

 measures, and a few years later (1878) P. L. Bertkau one in the Brown-coal of Rott, near 

 Bonn, Miocene in age. 



In 1882, B. N. Peach carried back a knowledge of these creatures to the Devonian, 

 describing two forms from the old red Sandstone of Forfarshire, in Scotland. 



In 1886, Dr. Scudder issued a review of the Insects, Myriapods and Arachnids, which 

 remains to-day the most systematic and philosophical grouping of the Insectea. He has 

 since made some important changes however, as for instance, in recognizing Chilopods 

 among the Carboniferous Myriapoda. 



The insect faunas of the Tertiary deposits are notably poor in remains of Myriapods. 

 Prof Oswald Heer, in 1862, described the Insect Fauna of Œningen, in Bavaria, finding no 

 less than 844 species of insects, chiefly beetles, and almost all of living families. But, as 

 quoted by Lyell, he does not mention the occurrence of a single Myriapod. Rev. P. B. 

 Brodie described no less than 24 families of insects from the Lower Lias, Great Britain, but 

 Myriapods are equally wanting there. 



' Journal Geol. Society of London, Vol. XVI., p. 268, 1859. 



Sec. IV., 1894. 14. 



