SPIDERS. 263 



particularly the strange creatures with a great number 

 of legs on each side of their body, called Myriapods, 

 or manyfoote.d, which must for a short time detain us. 

 They are curious creatures, with very few friends, al- 

 though comparatively harmless, some of them even 

 being useful; it will be sufficient to notice them under 

 three types, the Wood-lice, the Millepedes, and the 

 Centipedes. 



The Wood-lice consist of several species, and these 

 are known locally as Sow-bugs, Old sows, Pig-lice, 

 Carpenters, and Slaters. Some of them, as the Ar- 

 madillo (Oniscus armadillo, L.), roll themselves in a 

 ball when touched, others (as Oniscus asellus) do not 

 habitually roll up. They are covered with horny 

 plates like coats of mail, and have seven pairs of legs. 

 The two species above named are found in gardens 

 and amongst rubbish, but similar species are to be 

 met with in woods, and sometimes the same. They 

 walk slowly unless disturbed, when they run away 

 fast. They shun the light and the heat of the sun, 

 and hence are seldom to be seen during the day, un- 

 less disturbed in their hiding-places. The food of 

 this group is undoubtedly vegetable, and they are the 

 most destructive of all, being troublesome in gardens. 



The Millepedes, or Snake Millepedes, are several 

 kinds Qijulus, from half an inch to nearly two inches 

 in length, with rounded cylindrical bodies covered 

 with horny plates, and about a hundred pairs of short 

 legs. When touched or disturbed they coil themselves 

 up spirally into a compact coil. They all walk slowly, 

 or rather glide along in a peculiar kind of way, from 

 the immense number of legs they possess, and which, 



