Mr. White on new or little known Arachnida. 471 



to show that Ehrenberg has been guilty of the greatest arbi- 

 trariness. In the last nine pages we have a view of the ge- 

 nera which M. Corda has made for his family of the Euastrea 

 and Cosmariece ; and all botanists who have occupied them- 

 selves with observations on this subject, will be somewhat 

 surprised at the by no means small number. 

 [To be continued.] 



XLVIII. — Descriptions of new or little known Arachnida, By 

 Mr. Adam White ; Assistant in the Zoological Depart- 

 ment of the British Museum. 



Having been favoured by Mr. Darwin with the whole of the 

 extensive collection of Arachnida, made by him on the voyage 

 of H.M.S. Beagle, I intend describing them occasionally in 

 this journal, as well as several others from Van Diemen's 

 Land, collected by Mr. Gunn. From Mr. Bracy Clarke I 

 have received a collection of spiders made by him in Switzer- 

 land during his travels and residence there in 1798, along 

 with MS. notes drawn up at the time; Mr. Swainson, before 

 setting out for New Zealand, also kindly gave me a bottle of 

 spiders from St. Vincent's, collected by the late Lansdowne 

 Guilding. They are all preserved in spirits of wine, as spiders 

 should always be if possible, and, to some of Mr. Darwin's, 

 notes are occasionally added, which 1 have that gentleman's 

 permission to extract from his copious manuscript journal *. 

 I describe them without any systematic order, but having 

 necessarily numbered each species, intend afterwards giving 

 a classified index: the descriptions are in many instances 

 prolix, and I have in most cases given the generic character 

 of each species. I have done this because, at present, I am 

 unwilling to propose new names if I can possibly refer the 

 species I describe to any of the established genera. I need 

 hardly say, that in spiders the colours are so fugitive, that 

 unless notes or even drawings are taken from live speci- 

 mens, but little dependence is to be placed on the colours 

 assigned in descriptions taken from the best-preserved speci- 

 mensf. Travellers should be particular in doing this, as well 

 as in taking notes of their habits, whether land or aquatic ; 

 whether they hunt for their prey by running after it — jump- 

 ing upon it — or whether they conceal themselves in holes, 



* These notes, there is no use saying, were always made amid the hurry 

 and bustle of a campaign in which annulose animals formed but a small 

 part of the subjects of research. I prefer giving them as I find tliem, as 

 there is sl freshness about them which would be rubbed off were I to attempt 

 to improve them. 



t For an example, see the first description {Linyphia argyrobapta). 



