288 



ORDER CHILOPODA 



CENTIPEDE AND ITS ALLIES. 



able, owing to the flexibility of their long and jointed bodies, to 

 wind their way with facility among the lurking-places of Insects, 

 against which they carry on an unrelenting warfare. <5f their 



FiG. 509. SCOLOPJBNDRA, OR CENTIPEDE. 



carnivorous propensities, the structure of the mouth affords suf- 

 ficient evidence. It is provided, not merely with a pair of 

 horny jaws resembling those of Insects, but with a pair of strong 

 sharp claws, formed by an enlargement of the second pair of 

 legs, and perforated at the top with a minute aperture, through 

 which a venomous fluid is probably instilled into the wounds 

 made by them. Small insects seized in these claws are seen to 

 die very speedily; and in warm countries the bite of the large 

 species of Centipede is a source of great irritation to man, 

 being reputed to be more injurious than that of the Scorpion, 

 although it is seldom fatal. The application of Ammonia 

 (Hartshorn) is the most effectual remedy for the pain of the bite; 

 and the internal employment of the same remedy seems the best 

 antidote to the effects of the poison upon the constitution. The 

 last pair of legs usually undergoes some modification in this 

 Order ; being directed backwards so as to form a kind of double 

 tail ; and not being used for walking, except when the animal is 

 walking backwards. The European species of this Order seldom 

 exceed three inches in length ; but they are by no means uncom- 

 mon, if sought for in the 

 right situations. They 

 frequent dark places, 

 hiding themselves under 

 stones, beneath the bark 

 of trees, in the ground, 

 and in the hollows of 

 ripe fruit, situations that are the resort of the Insects on 

 which they feed. The tropical species not unfrequently attain 



Fro. 510>-a, LITHOBIUS FORCIPATUS; 6, GBOPHILUS 



LONG1CORNI8. 



