4 NOTES ON MILLIPEDES. 



about six inches long ; they were in a mass, one on the top of 

 the other, which must have numbered several hundreds, and 

 reminded me of a huge dish of macaroni." And I myself saw 

 enormous numbers on the island of Kosichang, in the Gulf 

 of Siam, when visiting it on the 27th and 28th of August 

 1897 ; the following extract from my diary may be of 

 interest : — 



" The chief living feature of the island was the Millipedes. 

 From sea-level to the top of the hill, all about the ground under 

 the shade of the trees and in the hot midday sunshine they were 

 crawling about in hundreds and hundreds ; the big red-brown 

 ones (Thyropygus) were particularly conspicuous, 5, 6 or 7 often 

 to be seen crossing the path within a few yards: some of these 

 were uniform in colour, others banded alternately lighter and 

 darker ; then there were smaller Millipedes of a beautiful grey 

 colour, and flattened ones (Orthomorjiha) ; when we turned over 

 dead leaves in the wood we found in the soil many small white- 

 legged Millipedes, which when disturbed sprang about, very 

 lively, hopping an inch or two off the ground, and were quite 

 difficult to catch; a contrast to the numberless "Tikal" Milli- 

 pedes (Zephronia), which were exceedingly numerous on the 

 artificial stone work, and which when picked up always rolled 

 into a ball and remained quite quiet." At the end of February 

 1898, I was again at Kosichang; not one single Millipede ivas to 

 be seen abroad, but we found a few by searching in damp spots, 

 underneath timber, old tins, etc. This shows how the different 

 seasons affect these animals ; and how a locality where in the 

 dry season there seem to be none, in the wet season literally 

 swarms with Millipedes. 



An anomymous writer in a Singapore paper of(? 13th) Octo- 

 ber 1897, gives the following Malay account of the evolution of 

 Millipedes, etc. : — " There is a belief that if the vertebral bone of 

 a fish is kept under a mattress for some time it becomes a centi- 

 pede, and that the strands which are found between the pulp and 

 the rind of a plantain, commonly known as pisang klat, when 

 securely bottled up and kept in a dark corner become Millipedes. 

 There is also a belief that a fresh water fish, not unlike the 

 European sly, and known to the natives as 'ekan klee,' is 

 generated from a tadpole." 



