HA R D WICKE'S S CIENCE- G OSS IP. 



79 



tionate, brotherly, but unfortunately old-world charm 

 about it that almost makes one sad. The Rev. John 

 White was a correspondent of Linnaeus, six of whose 

 letters also appear in these pages. Another corre- 

 spondence consists of a series of letters, also now first 

 published, between White and his brother-in-law, Mr. 

 Thomas Barker, of Lyndon Hall, Rutland, and the 

 latter gentleman's son. Natural history and archae- 

 ology are the chief subjects herein pleasantly dis- 

 cussed. The correspondence between the well-known 

 naturalist Pennant and Gilbert White form the bulk 

 of the first portion of the work. In addition to the 

 above new additions to White's " Selborne," ren- 

 dering it richer and fuller than any previous edition, 

 Professor Bell has had the sympathetic aid of several 

 modern naturalists, among whom the suggestions of 

 Professor Alfred Newton on that part of the work 

 relating to Birds, have unquestionably raised its 

 authoritative value. All lovers of natural history and 

 English classics who can afford it, will have this best 

 edition of White on their library shelves ; and all our 

 provincial scientific societies and clubs ought to 

 include it in their circulating list. 



THE HARVESTMAN "SPIDER." 



THE animal which from the enormous length of 

 its legs has attracted the notice of most per- 

 sons from childhood upwards, seems from its very 

 slight resemblance in external appearance to the form 

 of a spider to have received a name to which it is 

 not at all entitled ; some of the peculiarities of spiders 

 are so exceptional to the general characteristics of all 

 other living beings, that no creature in which they 

 are absent ought to be called a spider. I am there- 

 fore induced to compare the harvestman with an 

 ordinary spider, in the hope that some one will suggest 

 its appropriate name. 



The first difference that strikes the most superficial 

 observer is, that the bodies of spiders are divided into 

 two distinct portions by a very slender waist which 

 connects the abdomen with the chest and head ; in 

 the harvestman the head, chest, and abdomen are all 

 under one shell or horny covering, without any waist 

 or division. The most remarkable feature in spiders 

 is the position and character of the reproductive 

 organs. In the female spiders they are on that por- 

 tion of the abdomen next the waist, and in the male 

 spiders in a much more extraordinary position, being 

 connected with the head of the animal by the palpi ; 

 a further exception to the prevailing order of nature, 

 and equally remarkable, is seen in the fact that each 

 male spider has two distinct and complete organs, 

 one in each palpus, and both exactly alike, one not 

 being the complement, but the exact counterpart of 

 the other. In the different species of spiders these 

 organs vary in a greater or less degree, so that by 

 these differences species might be determined ; some 



of them are extremely complex and beautiful, as in 

 Lyniphia marginata, others, though more simple, are 

 still worth studying. May not the absence of this re- 

 markable apparatus in the harvestman be considered 

 a conclusive answer in the negative to the question, 

 Is it a spider ? 



Those who have not the opportunity of examining 

 these organs microscopically I would refer to Black- 

 wall's celebrated treatise on spiders, where they will 

 be found beautifully illustrated. This authority says, 

 spiders moult or change their skin from five to nine 

 times, according to species ; that the male sexual 

 organs are not commenced in their development till 

 the penultimate moult, and are not completed till the 

 final moulting : now in the harvestman the sexual 

 organs are found in the smallest individuals. In the 

 harvestman there is one slight approach to the resem- 

 blance of spiders, the position of the reproductive 

 organs being similar to that in the female spider, viz., 

 nearly close to the chest ; in the harvestman the 

 position is the same in both sexes, there is, however, 

 no difficulty in distinguishing one sex from the other ; 

 in both sexes the organ is situated within a flexible 

 tube by means of which it is drawn within the abdo- 

 men, or projected externally, both organs are repre- 

 sented in the following sketches (figs. 55 and 58). 



In the male organ the parallel lines represent the 

 membraneous tube, the shaded portion the horny 

 instrument which slides within it by introversion, or 

 something like the tube of a telescope ; it may be seen 

 in its normal position (after the body has been 

 rendered transparent) seated within the abdomen 

 with the hooked point near the external orifice, this 

 hook is attached to the shaft by a movable joint, and 

 the hairlike termination of the hook is also jointed, 

 so that it is possible to place the hook in a line with 

 the shaft, though it is always found at a right angle 

 as represented ; the length of the organ with its 

 elastic tube extended is about as long as the diameter 

 of the body, the horny portion being a little shorter 

 than the membranous. The female organ, from the 

 great length of its elastic tube, which is about twice 

 as long as the body of the animal, is probably used as 

 an ovipositor, the horny portion is not more than one 

 third the length of the elastic tube ; the latter, how- 

 ever, when drawn within the body is shortened by 

 contraction to the length of the horny part then con- 

 tained within it. This part appears to be formed of 

 a series of bands or rings connected together and 

 terminating in lobes, to which are attached strong 

 tufts of hair, or spines, the bands are covered with 

 stout hairs about as long as the width of each band, 

 and the membranous tube is so thickly studded with 

 minute hairs, that when contracted within the body 

 the organ appears black, the surface resembling that 

 of a steel rasp. It might be supposed that a tube 

 that has to slide within itself by introversion would 

 be greatly impeded by the friction arising from its 

 surfaces being prickly instead of smooth. If we ask 



