Naturalist

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 358, 19 March 1903, Page 7

Naturalist

CENTIPEDES FOE SALE. the many remarkable deveSfcla) L-'pments of life in the far west jSjSSI the centipede industry of southern California is uniquely prominent, thousands of these myriapods being placed on the market each year, and even then the demand exceeds the Bupply. Besides wholesaling immense numbers to astern firms, ;the California novelty establishments find active customers in tho winter tourists, who invariably purchase a formidable collection of semitropical bags and insects, centipedes being especially popular. Daring the months of March, April and May. this strange industry is carried on with a vim, and a whole year's accumulation of centipedes is harvested, the erop being dried and stored quite as seriously and carefally as the fruit and grain crops are prepared for market. Fourth of July picnics are rich with the joy of lunch basketß and fire-cracke's. but a centipede picnic 'beatß them all,' say the small boys of souttern California, who are amusing themselves just now in gathering centipedes by the hundred. A butterfly chase or a rabbit hunt is not to be compared to the mysterious delights that attend the unearthing 1 of centipedes, and then, besides the actual pleasure of the expedition, the financial proceeds are considerable, for an active b'<y can easily catch 100 worms a day if the hunting grounds are propitious, and these he has so difficulty in selling to the dealers at five cents each, thus earning the neat sum of 5, dollars.

Notwithstanding the repulsive and dangerous qualities of the game, a centipede hunt is instructive, highly entertaining and exhilarating, and youngsters enter into the sport with great enthusiasm, for it means a tramp across the wild tlowor fields, a jaunt in the vinetangles of the arroyo, or a pi'grimage among the rocks of the foothills. Tfce young hunter . usually carries his lunch, sometimes in a basket* some times in his pocket. Besides the lunch the. hunter's paraphernalia consists of a home-made pair of wooden pincers about 18 inches in length and a five-gallon oil can, with the top half thrown open. Scraps of paper line the bottom of this can to a depth of six or eight inches, and into this rustling heap the worms are placed. If it were not for the paper that pads the jail and affords snug hiding places there would be a terrific battle, in which tho whole collection of centipedes would unite, for they hate their own kind. Not being satisfied to kill their brother captives they eat one another, so that at the termination of the fight only the larger and stronger one remains. Triumphant and exultant this conquering worm views the field, and he only regrets that his eating capacities are inadequate to cope with the supply on hand-

The search is Carried on systematically, and the rock clothing of mother earth is tossed about and disheveled with the most deliberate unconcern. No stone or boulder is passed without being rolled over, unless it is too big and obstinate for the youngsters to manage. Sometimes three or four boys will pull and tug at an immense rosk, while another boy poises in readiness to nab the astonished centipede with his pincers. Full-grown California centipedes are from five to eight inches in length and average forty-two legs and twenty-one segments. Each leg is terminated by a formidable brown thorn, and if the worm is angered he simultaneously thruatn every thorn into the flesh of his victim, who feels as if a red-hot iron were carving lines of pain upon his skin. But the weapons that do the most mischief are placed just below the mouth, and are formed from the second pair of feet, which are modified into a pair of strong claws. These claws are perforated and are traversed by a little canal leading from the poison gland. They come together in the flesh of their victim with a hold so tenacious that the centipede sometimes has to be torn to pieces before he will loosen his hold.

Boys who gather the creatuies are sometimes bitten, for on hot days the worms run like a streak of lightning, and unless the pincers hold firm they glide up the sticks and uader their tormentors' shirt sleeves, where they wreak vengeance and raise Cain generally. Sometimes a young hunter wildly clutches his pants leg and, accompanied by his own agonized hewls, begins a remarkable dance. Under Bueh conditions the spectator easily imagines what has occurred. An application of ammonia or cooking soda is usually efficacious in removing the poison, and though the pain of being bitten by a California centipede is terrific, the pationt usually recovers.—St. Louis Globe Democrat.

LIVING FISH IN BOILING WATER. The naturalist, Broussonet, found, by experiment, that some fresh-water fish would live for several days in water so not that a a human being could not keep his hand in it for a minute. Saussure discovered living eels in hot springs at Aix, temperature of which averages 133deg. Fahrenheit, and Humbolt saw live fish thrown up from a volcano. ——> ANTS AND FABMEBS. One of the most interesting points connected with ant existence is that which shows us the evolutions which have attended their ways and works. All ants do not exhibit the same standard of reasoning power; some live at a lower intellectual level than others; and while certain species may be said to represent the acme of ant-development, others linger behind in the intellectual race. Becently we had one of those useful corrections regarding certain ants which exact observation affords. Prof. W. W. Wheeler, writing regarding the habits of a new farming or agricultural ant, which was believed to sow ' ant rice' and reap it, tells us this belief must be given up. The ants certainly carry out from their store grains of ihe ' rice' which have begun to germinate, and place them o'ptside the nest. There the seeds grow, and it has been believed that the crop thus accidentally produced represented an actual sowing of the plant by the insects. The growth of the ' rice' is a pure accident, and the idea that these ante are F armers will therefore require to be deleted from the pages of the text beets.