July and August are the months for centipedes in the Shanghai area. I killed the first one this summer on my porch last night, July 14. For several years I kept a record of the dates on which centipedes came into my house and the number of these pests destroyed. This record indicates that while centipedes may make their appearance in one's house at any time from April to October, they greatly increase in number during the two hottest months of the year, being actually most numerous in August. On one memorable evening during this month some years ago I killed no fewer than eight centipedes in the drawing-room and dining-room. These ranged in length from a little over an inch to three inches. In the Shanghai area are to be found several members of the class Myriapbda, which includes the various kinds of centipedes and millipedes and the peculiar little pill-millipedes, which can curl up into a round ball like an armadillo, and closely resemble certain forms of woodlice in appearance. Of these the only one to be feared is the big Scolopendra, whose long pincer-like fangs are strongly poisonous, their bite causing intense pain and inflammation and severe swelling of the affected part of the victim's anatomy. The sharp claw which tips each-of this centigtde's numerous legs is also to a certain extent poisonous, for which reason, if by chance one should find one of these unpleasant creatures crawing on one's person, one should knock it off with a quick glancing sidewise blow. Otherwise it is liable to dig all its "claws into one's flesh, stinging rather badly even if its does not actually bite. Ammonia applied to the punctures ds. soon as possible is the best antidote to the sting of a centipede. It should be noted that the long-legged short-bodied centipede, Scutigera by name, that is so common in human dwellings in Shanghai and China generally, is not poisonous and should not -be feared. On the contrary, it is a real friend of man that should be encouraged, since it is a great destroyer of mosquitoes. Our Shanghai Scolopendra is characterized by a bright orange-red head, dark green back and yellow antennaę, legs and under parts. It is rather long in proportion to its width, and can, move with surprising: rapidity. It attains a considerable size, specimens of six inches and over being not uncommon. In South China the same or a closely related form attains a length of ten inches or more. The sting of such monsters is liable to prove fatal. Some years ago a British soldier stationed in Hongkong was killed by the sti of one of these large centipedes. The tendency of Scolopendra to enter human habitations makes it an unpleasant neighbour, to be ruthlessly destroyed whenever encountered. As an example of just how unpleasant they can be I may mention an incident which took place last May. My wife being laid amd confined to her bedroom, I was in the habit of bringing flowers from the garden to place in a vase beside her chaise longue. On this particular occasion I had placed in the vase an unusually fine bloom of the American Beauty rose, the fragrance of which she had enjoyed all day. Imagine her horror when as dusk began to fall she observed the head and waving antennae of a centipede protruding from the heart of the flower just as she was about to smell it once more! Hastening to the rescue, I shook out a three-inch Scolopendra, which had evidently lain curled up in the heart of the rose all day—hardly the thing for an invalid. Strangely enough, however, the old-style Chinese doctors prescribe these large centipedes as a cure for certain human ailments. A medical missionary from Hangchow once told me of a case he attended in which the sufferer, a Chinese womán, had tried to swallow a live centipede as ordered by her native physician. Her lips and tongue were horribly swollen as a result of bites inflicted by the outraged my-naped: Large dried specimens of Scolopendra stretched on slivers of bamboo can always be purchased at Chinese medicine shops.—A. DE c. s. vatory,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.