CENTIPEDES AND MILLIPEDES 309 



segments close to the articulations of the legs. On the sides of each 

 segment cutaneous glands open, the secretion of which has a pungent 

 smell much like that of prussic acid. 



Millipedes live in the ground and under stones. They feed chiefly 

 on vegetable matter, and sometimes do much damage to crops by gnaw- 

 ing the roots. In the tropics, during the rainy season. Millipedes may 

 often be seen collected together on the ground in writhing heaps, 

 exempt from molestation by reason of their pungent cutaneous secretion. 

 Millipedes are found in all parts of the world ; some of the large tropical 

 species are considerably more than 6 inches long. 



