168 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



roof, or perchance coil up in the clothing, or even in the bed of the right- 

 ful owner. In cooler climes the smaller forms retain the same qualities. 

 They are provided with poison-glands ; but their jaws are too weak to 

 pierce the skin of man. Still, they do a great amount of good to the 

 agriculturist, for they kill and devour an immense quantity of injurious 

 insects. In every damp locality you will find them abundant, and always 

 near them are the skins of the insects on which they have dined. 



The familiar galley-worm or thousand-legged worm is a familiar exam- 

 pi," of the millipods. Its shining dark-brown body, coiled in a spiral at the 

 least disturbance, is a common object amid decaying timber. It and its 

 alius have but little of popular interest beyond the fact that they are pos- 

 sessed of numerous glands opening along the sides of the body, which 

 secrete a very powerful and offensive odor, which doubtless is protective in 

 its character. 



