R. T. LEWIS, NOTE ON SOLPUGA FEROX. 509 



hairs of the four kmds found on the psdipalpi. These legs da 

 not appear to be used for walking, but are generally carried hio-h 

 up from the ground when the creature is in motion. 



The second and third pairs of legs are nearly alike ; they are- 

 six-jointed ; the tarsus is divided into one long and three short 

 joints, with the addition of two long terminal claws. The tarsus 

 and the joint immediately above it are armed with strong spines, 

 the claws are long and smooth, but are peculiar in being them- 

 selves jointed near their extremities. As in the case of the first 

 pair of legs, they are profusely covered with hairs, both bifid and' 

 pointed, some of the latter being extremely fine and of great 

 length, but the knobbed variety is absent. 



The fourth pair of legs are very remarkable ; they are much 

 longer and stronger than the others, and are differently divided, 

 having eight joints exclusive of the divisions of the tarsus, which 

 has one long and six short joints in addition to the claws, which, 

 like those of the second and third pair of legs, are also jointed 

 near the ends. The under side only of the tarsus is armed wdth 

 spines, and the whole leg is covered with hairs, some of which are 

 very long, extending far beyond the stretch of the legs, but the^ 

 knobbed hairs are not present. Three out of the four joints next 

 to the body have five curious fan-shaped organs suspended from 

 them in a crosswise direction by flexible stems, which connect 

 them with the tracheal and nervous systems of the creature : 

 these are the malleoli. In size they vary considerably, according 

 to that of the bearer, their average breadth at the widest part 

 being about 1/1 5th of an inch, the stem being about l/25th long- 

 by 1/75 th of an inch in diameter. Being very translucent and 

 almost colourless, it has been difficult to make out their structure^ 

 especially as their refractive index is nearly the same as that of 

 glass or Canada balsam ; staining has not been of much assist- 

 ance, and they are all but invisible under a polarised light. It 

 happens, however, that the malleoli of a Solpuga sent to me in 

 glycerine, after having been washed and mounted in balsam, 

 are much more satisfactory objects for examination, appearing 

 of a chrome-yellow colour on the slide, and showing the internal 

 structure far better than any which have been mounted in other 

 ways. They appear to consist of two membranes united at their 

 edges and containing a number of obvious trachea which branch 

 and subdivide in all directions from the point where they emerge 



