300 THE SCHOOL GARDEN. 



SOME ANIMALS OF THE OAEDEIST. 



Our garden is a common one, in which there are flowers, 

 vegetables, and fruit bushes and trees. We cannot hope to 

 deal with all the animals which may be found there either 

 as welcome or unwelcome guests, but we aim at becoming 

 familiar with the commoner examples ; we seek to discover 

 something of their life and habits, and to learn more 

 exactly the effect of their presence. 



ANIMALS IN OR ON THE SOIL. 



Underground as we turn over the soil usually the first 

 animal we meet with is the Earthworm. We have already 

 had a talk about this remarkable creature (p. 176). 



Centipedes. Another common type of animal we dis- 

 cover early is the Centipede, of which we may quite likely 

 find two or more different kinds. These animals are 

 readily identified by the large number of feet they possess 

 (Fig. 160). They may be an inch or nearly two inches 

 long, golden yellow or brown in colour, and run actively 

 when disturbed. Their bodies are flattened, and they 

 should be clearly distinguished from their relatives the 

 millipedes. 



Centipedes do not interfere with the growth of cultivated 

 plants. On the other hand they attack ground insects, 

 snails and slugs and such like, most of which are destruc- 

 tive in the garden. Indeed so carnivorous are their tastes 

 that the male of a certain common genus (Lithobius) will 

 devour the eggs laid by his mate. To prevent this she 

 rolls the egg, which is sticky, in earth as soon as it is laid, 

 so that it becomes coated and resembles a particle of soil. 

 Lithobius is about an inch long and about one-eighth of 

 an inch broad. A longer and more slender form is 

 Geopliilus. 



