The Washington times., 1922-10-15
The Head Of the csntipede,
Greatly Enlarged, Showing the
r Antennae, and, Curved Up
Above the Mouth, lis
Biting Jaws. r..

spread slowly northward and b now com
mon In Northern States. The popular be-
lief il that the centipede 10 extremely
poisonous, and, ~ Il belongs TO . group
Of poisonous nyriapods, II cannot well be
questioned but that its bite s probably
somewhat poisonous, % well a. painful.
The seriousness Of the result will be de-
pendent, n In similar cases, on the sus-
ceptibility Of the patient. The poison in
jected In the oct Of biting 10 probably
merely TO assist in numbering and quieting
the victim. In spite Of its abundance,
very few eases are recorded Of IT. having
bitten human beings, and Il 10 very ques-
tionable whether II would ever. unpro-
voked, attack any large animal. If
pressed with the bare foot or hand, or if
caught between sheets Of beds, It will,
like any species Of insect, unquestionably
bite IN self defense, and the few cases on
record Indicate that some swelling and
pain may result from the poison injected.
Prompt dressing Of the wound with
strong ammonia win greatly alleviate the
disagreesble symptoms"
The general belief Of science that CEN
tipedes, like all other forms Of land life,
had their origin in the oceans ID interest
inely combatted by Professor John Muir
head Macfsrlane, Of the Chair Of Botany
Of the University of Pennsylvania.
Cooke says" states Professor Macfar-
lane is his Causes and Course Of Or
ganic Evolution: IT Is the generally
accepted view Of men Of science that all
life originated in the sea- But, the ocean
surface, with its entire absence of shelter
and resting place, and the deep sea, whose
abysses are always dark and cold and
changeless, offer little encouragement to
plant and animal life as an original start
ing point. IT. tz
ut was no doubt the littoral region
1.-THE shores) and shallow waters imme-
diately below II, q region Of changeable
currents, of light and shkde, of variation,
within definite limits, Of temperature and
tide effects, which was the scene of the
original development Of plant life and of
food supply which rendered possible it's
colonization of higher animals. But the
littoral region, besides the advantage of
tenancy which 1t offers animal life, has
also its drawbacks The violence Of the
surf may beat its inhabitants TO pieces.
The retreat Of the tide exposes them, not
merely to predatory enemies, birds and
beasts, but also to atmospheric change
Allowing that the Mollusca originated
in the sea, we must place against them the
fact that even the highly developed scor-
pions, centipedes, insecta, etc., were al
ready evolved. Further the enormous de-
velopment In species and genera which
worms and land arthropods have under
gone Is proof that q fresh watef or land
environment Is prolific Of organic change,
even though the strain Of life, the struggle
for existence, Is greater there than in the
sea-" F.r,, ~. gltl a.s as t y.
What Professor Macfarlane seems to
have overlooked, however, Il the fact that
primeval seas were not salt like the oceans
Of to-day. All waters were originally
fresh. Osborn and others have reached
the conclusion that Il took 10000, 900
years for the salts Of the ocean to be
brought down TO them by rivers and
floods. Salts In the ocean are one Of the
gifts to Il Of erosion Of rocks and soil