476 



ARTICULATA. 



[Chap. XIII. 



little silvery creature (Lepisma), called by Europeans 

 the " fish-insect." 1 



The latter, which is a familiar genus, comprises 

 several species, of which only two have as yet been 

 described ; one is of a large size, most graceful in its 

 movements, and singularly beautiful in appearance, 

 owing to the whiteness of the pearly scales from which 

 its name is derived. These, contrasted with the dark 

 hue of the other parts, and its tri-partite tail, attract 

 the eye as the insect darts rapidly along. Like the 

 chelifer, it shuns the light, hiding in chinks till sunset, 

 but is actively engaged throughout the night feasting 

 on the acari and soft-bodied insects which assail books 

 and papers. 



Millepeds. — In the hot dry season, and more 

 especially in the northern portions of the island, the 

 eye is attracted along the edges of the sandy roads by 

 fragments of the dislocated rings of a huge species of 

 millepede 2 , lying in short curved tubes, the cavity ad- 

 mitting the tip of the little finger. When perfect the 

 creature is two-thirds of a foot long, of a brilliant jet 

 black, and with above a hundred yellow legs, which, 

 when moving onward, present the appearance of a 

 series of undulations from rear to front, bearing the 



appearance of the latter species in 

 Ceylon, so far from its native 

 country, but it has most certainly 

 been introduced from Europe, in 

 Dutch or Portuguese books. 



1 Le/pisma niveo-fasciata, Tem- 

 pleton, and L. niger, Temp. It 

 was called "Lepisma" by Fabri- 

 cius, from its fish-like scales. It 

 has six legs, filiform antennae, and 

 the abdomen terminated by three 

 elongated setae, two of which are 

 placed nearly at right angles to the 



central one. Linnaeus states that 

 the European species, with which 

 book collectors are familiar, was 

 first brought in sugar ships from 

 America. Hence, possibly, these 

 are more common in seaport towns 

 in the South of England and else- 

 where, and it is almost certain that, 

 like the chelifer, one of the species 

 found on book-shelves in Ceylon, 

 has been brought thither from 

 Europe. 



2 Julus ater. 



