MYRIAPODA. 799 
two parts. Except the back, the whole body and the feet are covered wrth 
long bushy hair. The extremities of the feet are smooth and large, like the 
toes of a dog. 
This hideous species of the spider tribe preys principally on small birds; 
in doing of which, it tears them to pieces to get at their blood, and after- 
wards sucks their eggs. 
CLASS VIII.—MYRIAPODA. 
Head distinct, with two anienne ; mandibles simple, mcisive ; feet on ail or most 
of the segments of the body. 
THE animals of this class were arranged among the apterous insects by 
Linnzus, under the generic appellations of Scolopendra and Julus. Fabricius 
placed them asa division of his class Arachnides; and Dr Leach, in the 
Edinburgh Encyclopedia, fixed their characters as a distinct class, in which 
he has been followed by Latreille and the later writers. 
The Myriapoda, allied to the two preceding classes in their general 
structure, approach the insects in the organization of their respiratory appa- 
ratus. This consists of two principal trachea or air tubes, extending longi- 
tudinally and parallel to one another, the whole length of the body, which 
receive the air by numerous lateral spiracles. Their sexual organs are also, 
as in these, single. The feet, indefinite in number, but always more than 
six, are inserted by single or double pairs on the segments of the body, and 
increase in number as the bedy is elongated from age. From their great 
number of feet, the animals of this class have been designated by the term 
Millepedes. The Myriapoda, in general, have the form of small serpents or 
worms, with an elongated body of numerous segments, and of the same 
thickness, and crowded with feet along its wholelength. Their head is fur- 
nished with two short antennez, composed of seven joints. They have two 
granulated eyes, formed by the junction of numerous and smaller smooth 
ones; two dentated mandibles, proper for bruising or cutting their food, and 
divided transversely by a suture; and a labium or lip without palpi, formed 
of united portions. The two or four anterior feet, joined at their base, are 
analogous to the pedipalpi of the crustacea. The stigmata or air vessels 
are often very small, and exceed in number those of insects. The nervous 
system in the Myriapoda is composed of a series of ganglia, one in each 
segment of the body, communicating by a longitudinal chord. The animals 
of this class are found under stones, the bark of trees, &c., and feed on 
