CHAP. VII.] MILLIPEDS. 299 



houses ; it is about one quarter the size of the preceding, 

 and of a dirty olive colour, with pale ferruginous legs. 

 It is this species that generally inflicts the wound, when 

 persons complain of being bitten by a scorpion ; and 

 it has a mischievous propensity for insinuating itself 

 into the folds of dress. The bite at first does not occa- 

 sion more suffering than would arise from the pene- 

 tration of two_^ coarsely-pointed needles ; but after a 

 little time the wound swells, becomes acutely painful, 

 and if it be over a bone or any other resisting part, 

 the sensation is so intolerable as to produce fever. The 

 agony subsides after a few hours' duration. In some 

 cases the bite is unattended by any particular degree of 

 annoyance, and in these instances it is to be supposed 

 that the contents of the poison gland had become ex- 

 hausted by previous efforts, since, if much tasked, "the 

 organ requires rest to enable it to resume its accustomed 

 functions and to secrete a supply of venom. 



Millipeds. In the hot dry season, and more especially 

 in the northern portions of the island, the eye is attracted 

 along the edges of the sandy roads by fragments of the 

 dislocated rings of a huge species of millipede 1 , lying in 

 short, curved tubes, the cavity admitting the tip of the 

 little finger. When perfect the creature is two-thirds 

 of a foot long, of a brilliant jet black, and with above a 

 hundred yellow legs, which, when moving onward, pre- 

 sent the appearance of a series of undulations from rear 

 to front, bearing the animal gently forwards. This 

 julus is harmless, and may be handled with perfect im- 

 punity. Its food consists chiefly of fruits and the roots 

 and stems of succulent vegetables, its jaws not being 

 framed for any more formidable purpose. Another 

 and a very pretty species 2 , quite as black, but with 

 a bright crimson band down the back, and the legs 

 similarly tinted, is common in the gardens about Co- 

 lombo and throughout the western province. 



1 Julus ater, 2 Julus carnifex, Fab. 



