INSECTS. 75 



stout jointed limbs, well adapted, by the energy and activity of their move- 

 ments, to the pursuit of active prey. The mouth of the Scolopendra is a 

 terrible instrument of destruction, being not only provided with horny jaws, 

 resembling those of Julus, but armed with a tremendous pair of massive and 

 curved fangs, ending in sharp points, and perforated near their termination by 

 a minute orifice, through which a poisonous fluid is instilled into the wounds 

 they inflict. Several small species are common in our gardens ; but in hot 

 climates they grow to a great size, and their bite, though rarely fatal, is more 

 dangerous than the sting of the scorpion. 



The Giant Centipede (Scolopendra gigas], common in South America, measures 

 upwards of a foot in length, and an inch and a quarter across its body. Other species, 

 scarcely less formidable, inhabit India and the adjacent islands, and abound in the 

 hottest parts of Africa. They creep into houses, lurk under articles of furniture and. 

 behind wainscots, hide themselves in drawers and cupboards, and sometimes are found 

 even in beds, much to the disgust and apprehension of all who are not familiarized 

 with their presence. The largest species met with in this country is 



The Forked Centipede (Lit/whins fcrjicatits}.* It is found in the earth and 

 under stones in our gardens, and is quick and active in its movements. It does not 

 measure more than an inch and a quarter in length, and is of a tawny red colour, with 

 fifteen feet on each side. 



The Electric Scolopendra (Scolofcndra elcdrica), likewise a British species, 

 is occasionally luminous in the dark. 



CHAPTER XL 

 THIRD CLASS OF ARTICULATED ANIMALS. 



IXSECTS.f 



HAVE patience with us, gentle reader our task is no light 

 one. -To mete out the sands upon the sea-shore with a 

 quart pot, to drain the ocean with a thimble, to count the stars, 

 are ordinary expressions for impossibilities ; but to condense the 

 history of the insect world into a few short pages, would be a 

 miracle beyond them all. The number of species of insects, as 

 we are told by entomologists, amounts to upwards of a hundred 

 thousands ; so various in their habits and their manners; their 

 instincts and their appetites, that every species would itself furnish 

 a large volume of interesting information, could we only penetrate 

 the mysteries of their lives ; and yet how little has been done in 

 gaining anything like an intimate acquaintance with their daily 

 duties, by a careful and watchful perusal of their economy ! The 

 secresy of Creation, however, is not to be rudely broken. Nature 



* \i'0os, lithos, a stone ; j3iju, bioo, I live because it lives under stones, 

 f Insectum, divided into segments. 



