Chap. XIII.] 



CERMATIA. 



473 



to which it sometimes attains, renders it formidable, and, 

 apart from the apprehension of unpleasant consequences 

 from a wound, one shudders at the bare idea of such 

 a hideous creature crawling over the skin, beneath the 

 innermost folds of one's garments. 



At the head of the Myriapods, and pre-eminent from 

 a superiorly-developed organisation, stands the genus 

 Cermatia: singular-looking objects; mounted upon 



CERMATIA. 



slender legs, of gradually increasing length from front 

 to rear, the hind ones in some species being amazingly 

 prolonged, and all handsomely marked with brown annuli 

 in concentric arches. These myriapods are harmless, 

 excepting to woodlice, spiders, and young cockroaches, 

 which form their ordinary prey. They are rarely to be 

 seen ; but occasionally at daybreak, after a more than 

 usually abundant repast, they may be observed motion- 

 less, and resting with their regularly extended limbs 

 nearly flat against the walls. On being disturbed they 

 dart away with a surprising velocity, to conceal them- 

 selves in chinks until the return of night. 



But the species to be really dreaded are the true 

 Scolopendrce, which are active and carnivorous, living 

 in holes in old walls and other gloomy dens. One 



