336 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [1888. 



of the surf line. They traversed the ground which had been cover- 

 ed by the tide, but which for a considerable distance is there exposed 

 at the ebb. These foot-prints could be traced everywhere as issuing 

 from and returning to the burrows which he had marked by flagging 

 the grass stalks in their neighborhood. It was thus demonstrated, in 

 this indirect way, that the narrative of his artist friend was correct, 

 and that the Turret spiders do issue from their burrows during the 

 night and perhaps at other periods and traverse the sandy flats, no 

 doubt in search of prey. One half grown spider was captured while 

 wandering on the flat. 



These 'spider tracks were in themselves an interesting study, and 

 Dr. McCook expressed regret that he did not sketch a longer consec- 

 utive series. The motion of the feet was so rapid that he could not 

 determine the order in which they were placed down, nor identify the 

 mark made by any particular foot. The scratch in the figures he 

 thought might have been made by .the spinnerets at the apex of the 

 abdomen trailing in the sand. 



Dr. Charles S. Dolley had observed similar tracks upon the 

 sandy beach of Lake Ontario, near Rochester, which were made by 

 the same spiders that dwell in that vicinity. He had found the spi- 

 ders sheltered under the drift on the very edge of the shore whither 

 they had doubtless gone in pursuit of prey or to drink. 



Messrs Auguste Salle of Paris, Louis Bedel of Paris and Dr. 

 David Sharp of Wilmington, England were elected correspondents. 



The following were ordered to be printed : — 



