252 INSECT A. 



tated edges ; of a quadriiid Hp(l)j of which the two lateral di- 

 visions are the largest, and transversely annulated, resembling 

 the membranous feet of caterpillars; of two palpi or little feet, 

 united at base and unguiculated at the extremity, and of a 

 second lip(2) formed by a second pair of feet, dilated and 

 united at base, and terminated by a stout movable hook, whose 

 inferior extremity is perforated by a hole which affords an 

 issue to a venomous fluid. 



The body is depressed and memhranous. Each of its rings 

 is covered with a coriaceous or cartilaginous plate, and most 

 generally bears but a single pair of feet(3) ; the last is usually 

 thrown backwards, and elongated into a kind of tail. The 

 organs of respiration are wholly or partly composed of tubu- 

 lar tracheae. 



These animals run very fast, are carnivorous, avoid the 

 light, and conceal themselves under stones, logs, in the ground, 

 &c. They are much dreaded by the inhabitants of hot cli- 

 mates, where they are very large, and where their venom is 

 possibly more active. The Scolopendra inorsitans is styled 

 in the Antilles the malfaisante. Some of them exhibit phos- 

 phorescent properties. 



The organs of generation are internal and placed at the 



(1) A part analogous to the lower lip of the Chilognatha, representing, in my 

 opinion, the tongue of the Crustacea, but also capable of fulfilling the function of 

 jaws; Savigny calls it the first auxiliarj'lip. 



(2) The second auxiliary lip of the same naturalist. It is not annexed to the 

 head, but to the anterior extremity of the first semi-segment. The two hooked 

 feet, by the union and dilatation of their first joint, form a plate resembling a men- 

 turn and lip. The same segment bears the two first ordinary feet. In the Scolo- 

 pendrse proper of Leach, the two first stigmata are situated under the third half- 

 segment, the first not counted; the second and following one will compose the 

 first complete rnig, and then the two first stigmata are found, as in other Insects, 

 placed on a space corresponding to the prothorax. This second auxiliary lip 

 may thus represent the inferior lip of the grinding Hexapoda. But here the 

 pharynx is placed before that lip, whereas in the Myriapoda it is situated before 

 the first auxiliary lip. - It is from these considerations and affinities, and from 

 others furnished by the Entoraostraca and Arachnides, that I consider the feet of 

 the Hexapoda as analogous to the six foot-jaws of the Crustacea Decapoda. 



(3) In this case they are but semi-annuli. See our general observations on the 

 order. 



