10 F. P. SMITH ON THE SPIDERS OF THE SUB-FAMILY ERIGONINAE. 



that a group, the greater part of whose representatives 

 absolutely defy identification by the unaided eye, must be 

 regarded as microscopic, and, basing our observations upon 

 this assumption, let us consider the suitability of the various 

 creatures included in the order Araneae as candidates for 

 microscopical investigation. 



In Great Britain we have nearly 550 known species of spiders, 

 varying in body length from 1 mm. to 20 mm., and of these 

 certainly not more than 20 per cent, can be satisfactorily 

 identified without microscopical aid. Moreover, several genera 

 of large spiders, Aranea for example, are not by any means 

 satisfactory as at present limited, and a complete revision of 

 these groups is an urgent necessity. It is fairly certain that 

 any sub-division will have to be founded upon somewhat 

 obscure characters, and a vast field of work is here open to 

 any enterprising student of minute nature who can boast of 

 moderate efficiency in the manipulation of the microscope and 

 dissecting-knife. It must be distinctly understood that I have 

 not the slightest intention of advocating attention to the 

 Spiders simply as a means of adding slides to our cabinets, 

 and although I shall indicate methods by which certain 

 portions of these creatures may be prepared as permanent 

 objects, such preparations should be regarded only as means 

 to an end — as marginal notes, so to speak, to the main work 

 of the studious arachnologist. 



For an explanation of the neglect of this order by students 

 of nature, we have, to my mind, not far to seek. We are 

 constantly being brought into contact with the expression, "a 

 happy medium " ; but there are two sides to every question, 

 and we undoubtedly have in many cases an " unhappy 

 medium" in the form of an object which, hovering on the 

 boundary between two conditions, fails to find favour either 

 upon one side or the other. Our neglected spiders must, I 

 fear, be placed in this category. Some of them which are too 

 large to mount upon an ordinary slide still require, as 

 already stated, microscopical examination for their indentifica- 

 tion, and even those forms whose small size permits of their 



