30 MYRIAPODA 



Myriapoda best known to the ancients were those which were 

 harmful to man on account of their poisonous bite. 



Some writers have supposed that the word which is trans- 

 lated "mole" in the Bible (Lev. xi. 30) is really Scolopenclra 

 (a genus of Centipede), and, if this is so, it is the earliest men- 

 tion of the Myriapods. They were rarely noticed in the classical 

 times ; almost the only mention of them is by JElian, who says 

 that the whole population of a town called Ehetium were driven 

 out by a swarm of Scolopendras. Pliny tells us of a marine Scolo- 

 pendra, but this was most probably a species of marine worm. 



Linnaeus included Myriapods among the Insects ; and the 

 writers after him till the beginning of this century classed them 

 with all sorts of Insects, with Spiders, Scorpions, and even among 

 Serpents. It was Leach who first raised them to the importance 

 of a separate class, and Latreille first gave them the name 

 of Myriapoda, which they have retained ever since. 



Myriapods are terrestrial animals, crawling or creeping on 

 the ground or on logs of wood, or even under the bark of trees. 

 There is, however, a partial exception to this ; various naturalists 

 have from time to time given descriptions of marine Centipedes. 

 These are not found in the sea, but crawl about on the shore, 

 where they are suljmerged by each tide. Professor F. Plateau 

 has given an account of the two species of Myriapods that 

 are found thus living a semi -aquatic life. They are named 

 Geopliihts maritimus and Geophilus suhnarinus, and Plateau 

 found that they could exist in sea water from twelve to seventy 

 hours, and in fresh water from six to ten days. They thus offer 

 a striking example of the power that their class possess of 

 existing under unfavourable circumstances. 



With regard to their habits the different species differ very 

 considerably. On the one hand we have the Chilopoda, or 

 Centipedes, as they are called in this country, active, swift, and 

 ferocious ; living for the most part in dark and obscure places, 

 beneath stones, logs of wood, and dried leaves, etc., and feeding 

 on living animals. On the other hand, we have the Chilognatha, 

 or Millepedes, distinguished by their slow movements and 

 vegetable diet ; inoffensive to man, except by the destruction 

 they occasion to his crops, and having as a means of defence no 

 formidable weapon like the large poison claws of the Centipedes, 

 but only a peculiarly offensive liquid secreted by special glands 



