Page:Wood 1865 - The Myriapoda of North America.djvu/54

Rh, Wood, Journ. A. N. S., new series, vol. v, 1863, p. 49.

This is much the largest Geophilid as yet found within our limits. The greatest breadth of the scuta is about two lines. The white dots on its head are very minute, resembling punctations. Length, 5½ inches.

The distal joint of the filiform antennaæ is large and cylindrical, causing them to appear somewhat clavate. This species is a very interesting one, from the fact of its inhabiting a region so near the Arctic circle. Its diminutiveness shows that the Myriapoda form no exception to the general decrease in size observable among the lower animals as we leave the Equator. Length, I inch.

Hab. Fort Simpson, Red River of the North; R. Kennicott.—Smithsonian Collection.

DIPLOPODA.

The body among the Diplopoda is more or less cylindrical, not flat and parallelopipedal, as in the Chilopoda. Neither of the subsegments composing a segment is atrophied, nor are their appendages; consequently each segment is provided with two pairs of legs. These have coxæ, femora, tibial, tarsal, and metatarsal joints. The coxæ of the last pair are never hypertrophied, as in the first order. The organs of special sense are not well developed. The eyes are frequently altogether absent; when they do exist, they are generally numerous, scarcely at all elevated above the surface, and collected in patches near