CHAPTER XV. 



Myriapoda {Centipedes). 



There is a small class of animals, familiar enough to all, 

 because several species are common in every garden, 

 which seem but slightly removed above the Annelida we 

 lately considered. If we take one of the many-ringed 

 sea-worms, a Nereis or a Phyllodoce, for example, and 

 compare it with a Scolopendra from beneath a stone, or a 

 Julus from a decaying tree, we shall be at once struck 

 with the resemblance in structure between the two forms ; 

 the laading character in each case being that the greatly 

 lengthened body is composed of numerous segments, each 

 the counterpart of the others, and each bearing a lateral 

 pair of short limbs. 



The limbs in the Myriapod are made of distinct joints, 

 which is not the case with the Annelid ; the integument 

 of the body is of a firmer and more horny character ; and 

 the stiff segments are separated by a thin flexible mem- 

 brane, so that considerable freedom of motion is allowed ; 

 but these modifications have respect mainly to the sphere 

 of action of the animal, which is terrestrial • a greater 

 degree of firmness and compactness being necessary for 

 vigorous movements on the solid earth, than for those 

 performed in water. 



