NAMES FOR MYRIAPODS 4 1 



SO many short feet are to take so many short steps, that follow 

 one another rolling on like the waves of the sea." 



Before proceeding to the classification of Myriapods, which 

 will form the next part of this account, a few words on the 

 common names for them may not be without interest. 



In English we have the names Centipede and Millepede, 

 and the Continental nations have similar names implying the 

 possession of a hundred or a thousand legs, as the German 

 " Tausendfiisse " and the French " Millepieds." Of course these 

 are general words, simply implying the possession of a great 

 number of legs. But we have also among the peasantry a name 

 for Centipedes which conveys a much more accurate idea of the 

 number. The people of the eastern counties (I daresay the 

 term is more widely spread) call them " forty legs." This is not 

 quite accurate, but as Litliohius has 17 legs on each side, and 

 Scolopendra {Cryptops is the English species) has 21 on each side, 

 it is a better approximation than Centipede. But another 

 country has a still more accurate term. I found some Scolo- 

 pendra in Beyrout, and asked my native servant what he called 

 them. He gave them what I afterwards found was the common 

 Arab name for them, " 'arba wal 'arbarin," forty-four legs. Now 

 the Scolopendras, which in hotter climates are the chief representa- 

 tives of the Centipedes, have actually forty-two legs, or, if the 

 poison claws are counted, forty-four. In looking up the Arab 

 term for Centipede I came across a curious description given of 

 them by Avicenna, the great Arabian physician : " This is an 

 animal known for its habit of going into ears. For the most part 

 it is a palm's length " [about four inches, which is the average 

 length of many species]. " On each side of the body it has twenty- 

 two feet, and moves equally well either backwards or forwards." 



With regard to its alleged habit of going into ears, the 

 learned Arabian has evidently made a false imputation on the 

 character of our animal, and has probably relied too much on the 

 stories told him. He has also exaggerated in stating that it 

 goes equally well either backwards or forwards. Some Centi- 

 pedes can go backwards very easily and well, though not so well 

 as forwards. Perhaps he preferred examining dead specimens, 

 which afford an easy opportunity of counting their legs, to experi- 

 menting with living animals, which might have resented liberties 

 taken with them. 



