[467] Vide a letter by the writer in “Nature,” June 3rd, 1886.
Small scorpions came under my notice in Faro Island. They are not usually more than 11⁄2 in length and occur in narrow clefts of rocks and in the crevices of trees. I was stung by one on the thumb, but the pain was trifling and soon passed away.[468]
[468] Specimens of these scorpions were given by me to the Australian Museum, Sydney.
A species of Iulus or Millipede, which attains a length of from 6 to 7 inches, is commonly found in the eastern islands of the Solomon Group on the trunks of fallen trees and amongst decaying vegetable débris. It is often to be seen amongst the rotting leaves that have gathered inside the bases of the fronds of the Bird’s-nest Fern (Asplenium nidus). These Myriapods seem to be less frequent in the islands of Bougainville Straits towards the opposite end of the group, as I do not remember seeing any large Iuli in that locality: their place appears to be taken by another Myriapod, apparently a Polydesmus, growing to a length of 21⁄2 inches, which I found amongst decaying vegetation at all elevations up to 1900 feet above the sea, as on the summit of Faro Island. But to return to the Iuli, I should remark that this genus of Myriapods evidently possesses some means of transportal across wide tracts of sea, since, amongst other islands similarly situated, it is found in Tristan da Cunha,[469] in the South Atlantic Ocean, and I have found it in the Seychelles, in the Indian Ocean. The habits of these Millipedes would render it highly probable that they have reached the oceanic islands on vegetable drift, such as floating logs. It is, however, a noteworthy circumstance that they do not seem to be able to withstand immersion in sea-water for any length of time. In experimenting on the Solomon Island species, I found that they were able to survive an hour-and-a-half’s complete immersion in sea-water, but that an immersion of three hours killed them. One individual, out of several experimented on, survived for twelve hours after it was taken out, but only in a half lifeless condition.[470] It may, therefore, have been that the Iulus has been transported to oceanic islands by such agencies as canoes and ships, rather than by means of floating trees.[471]
[469] Moseley’s “Naturalist on the Challenger,” p. 134.
[470] This species of Iulus was able to sustain a longer submersion in fresh-water, without apparently any injurious effects. Those experimented on recovered after being kept under water for four hours, but died after a submersion of six hours.
[471] As bearing on this point, it might be interesting to determine whether these large Iuli occur on islands far from land which are believed never to have been inhabited.
Like other species of the genus, the Solomon Island Iulus exhales a very pungent and disagreeable odour, which is caused by an acrid fluid secreted by small vesicles, of which each segment of the body contains a pair.[472] On holding my nose for a moment over the mouth of a bottle, containing two of these large Millipedes, I experienced a strong sensation in the nasal passages, reminding me much of the effects of an inhalation of chlorine gas. I had previously learned from resident traders that these Millipedes have a habit of ejecting an acrid fluid when disturbed, which, if it entered the eye, was liable to cause acute inflammation; and the instance was related to me of the captain of some ship, trading in these islands, who lost the sight of one of his eyes from this cause. Mr. C. F. Wood learned from the natives of St. Christoval, in 1873, that these Myriapods “could squirt out a poisonous juice, which was dangerous if it happened to touch one’s eye;” but he adds, “there seemed no great probability of their doing this.”[473] However, I usually found that native testimony, in such matters, was very reliable; and in the instance of this reputed habit of the Iulus, my personal experience has convinced me of its reality. Whilst handling one of these Millipedes as it lay on the trunk of a fallen tree in Ugi Island, I felt a sudden smarting sensation in the right eye, caused apparently by some fluid ejected into it. Remembering the injurious effect attributed to this habit of the Iulus, I at once plunged my head under the water of a stream, in which I happened to be standing up to my waist, and I kept my eye open to wash away the offending fluid. During the remainder of the day, there was an uncomfortable feeling in the eye and somewhat increased lachrymation; but on the following morning these effects had disappeared. At the time of this occurrence, my face was removed about a foot from the Millipede; and, although I was uncertain from what part of the body the fluid was ejected, I did not care, under the circumstances, to continue the inquiry.
[472] Hoeven’s Zoology. (Eng. edit.) Vol. I., p. 291.
[473] “A Yachting Cruise in the South Seas,” p. 131. (London, 1875.)