7 8 MYRIAPODA 



resemblance to the Worms, which Myriapods certainly bear, was 

 noticed by the ancient writers, and as they had for the most 

 part only external appearances to consider, they pushed this 

 idea to extremes in actually including some of the marine 

 Worms (Annelida) among the Centipedes. Pliny talks of a 

 marine Scoloj^endrcc as a very poisonous animal, and there is little 

 doubt that he meant one of the marine worms. An old German 

 naturalist, Gesner, in a very curious book published in 1669 gives 

 an account of an annelid sea-worm which he calls Scolopendra 

 marina, and which is in all probability the sea Scolopendra 

 which Pliny mentions. From Gesner 's account it seems to have 

 been used as a medicine (externally only). " The use of this 

 animal in medicine. The animal soaked in oil makes the hair 

 fall oif. So do its ashes mixed in oil." It was also pounded up 

 with honey. 



This idea of Centipedes living in water survived among later 

 naturalists. Charles Owen, the author before Cjuoted, mentions 

 them as amphibious in 1742. "The Scolopendra is a little 

 venomous worm and amphibious. When it wounds any, there 

 follows a l;)lueness about the affected part and an itch all over 

 the body like that caused li}- nettles. Its weapons of mischief 

 are much the same with those of the spider, only larger ; its 

 bite is very tormenting, and produces not only pruriginous pain 

 in the flesh, but very often distraction of mind. These little 

 creatures make but a mean figure in the ranks of animals, yet 

 have been terrible in their exploits, particularly in driving 

 people out of their country. Thus the people of Ehytium, a 

 city of Crete, were constrained to leave their C|uarters for them 

 (Aelian, lib. xv. cap. 26)." 



ilyriapods have been considered to bear resemblances to the 

 Crustacea, and this to a certain extent is true, though only to a 

 certain extent, the resemblances being confined to the more 

 general characteristics that they share with other groups of 

 animals. 



Of late years attempts have been made to speculate about the 

 origin of the Myriapods — that is, to endeavour to obtain by means 

 of investigation of their anatomy, embryology, and palaeontological 

 history, some idea of the history of the group. Such attempts at 

 research into the i^liylogmy , as it is called, of a group must be 

 more or less speculative until our knowledge is much greater than 



