the fmaller European fpecies this is well known to be 
the cafe; the larvae or thofe which are young, being 
furnifhed with fewer feet than when in a more advan¬ 
ced ftate of life. The fpecies here deferibed, is of a 
poifonous nature, and is furnifhed with a pair of for¬ 
ceps, which being tubular, and with an opening or flit 
towards the points, are the inftruments through which 
the infeft inje&s its poifonous juice when it bites. 
Thefe large Scolopendrae chiefly inhabit the woods, 
where they arc preyed upon by different fpecies of 
fnakes; but, like the European ones, they fometimes 
are found in houfes, and are faid to be fo common in 
fome particular diftrifts, that the inhabitants are obliged 
to have the feet of their beds placed in veffels of water, 
to prevent their being annoyed during the night by 
thefe horrible reptiles. The older writers on Natural 
Hiftory are full of the dreadful confequences refulting 
from the bites of Scolopendrae, but their deferiptions 
are fo vague, and their accounts fo uncertain, that no 
great fatisfa&ion can be obtained from reading their 
Hiftories. 
