cxc GENERAL SUMMARY OF SCIENTIFIC AND 



by the natives "(oka" or "fook," is thought by Vinson to 

 be probably harmless. Allusion is made by Thorell to the 

 supposed poisonous nature of the Lathrodectus Ciiracavien- 

 sis of Curayoa, South America. It is a congener of the poi- 

 sonous Lathrodectus of Southern Europe and the Southern 

 United States. 



He has also published in the Proceedings of the Boston So- 

 ciety of Natural History a descriptive account of the spiders 

 of Labrador, based on specimens collected by Dr. A. S. Pack- 

 ard, Jr. 



The spiders inhabiting the caves of Kentucky and adjoin- 

 ing states have been studied by Messrs. Packard and Emer- 

 ton, the latter affording descriptions and drawings of these 

 interesting forms, some of which are blind, or with defective 

 eyesight, and all more or less bleached. The two largest and 

 consequently most ancient caves, Mammoth and Wyandotte, 

 and in which the physical environment of the species is most 

 unvarying, have but one species each. In the smaller caverns 

 of Carter County, Kentucky, and the two Weyer's caves, the 

 number of species and variation in the individuals are great- 

 er than in the previously mentioned caves. In each set of 

 caves (Carter's and Weyer's) there are three species, to one 

 in Mammoth and Wyandotte caves. What constitutes the 

 food of these diminutive, weak, sedentary spiders it is diffi- 

 cult to conjecture, unless it be certain minute delicate mites 

 or young Poduras. They spin no web, except some of the 

 spiders of Weyer's Cave. The small flies {Sciara and Chl- 

 ronomus) are too large and bulky to be captured by them. 

 The probable insufficiency of food, as well as light, may ac- 

 count for their small size and feeble reproductive powers. 

 Mr. Emerton reports six species of cave spiders, all unde- 

 scribed except one. 



A few mites are known to inhabit the sea ; the British 

 species have recently been described and figured by Mr. G. 

 S. Brady. Eleven species are now known to inhabit the 

 coast of Great Britain, a number of which were obtained by 

 the dredge, while one form (Ilalarachne halichceri) is para- 

 sitic in the posterior nares of a seal (Halichmrus gry2yhus). 



Coming now to the winged insects, we can not say that 

 much has been done during 1875 in the study of their devel- 

 opment or anatomy. Unfortunately the mass of new species 



