PREFACE. 



This volume contains descriptions of all the species of 

 Aracbnida of the orders Scorpiones (Scorpions), Uropygi 

 (Whip-Scorpions), Ainblypygi, Solifugae, and of most of 

 the larger and otherwise conspicuous species of Aranese 

 (true Spide-rs) known to occur in British India, Burma, and 

 Ceylon, together with diagnoses of the genera, families, and 

 suborders into which they fall. The only innovation intro- 

 duced into the usually accepted classification of these groups 

 is the ordinal separation of the Uropygi and Ainblypygi, 

 which are generally united as one order Pedipalpi. 



All the described species of the first four orders are dealt 

 with in full. The Aranete, however, are less thoroughly 

 treated, only the larger forms being included in the present 

 work. These embrace all the Mygalomorplue, a group 

 comprising the species commonly known as " Mygales " and 

 Trap-door Spiders, all of which are of medium or large size, 

 and also a relatively small number of the described species of 

 Arachnomorpha). This latter group contains a va«t number 

 of species and is still very imperfectly known — so imperfectly 

 that no satisfactory account of it can at present be 

 given. All that has been attempted is to afford means of 

 identifying the larger, commoner, better known and more 

 widely distributed forms. As regards size no species which 

 when adult falls short of 5 mm. in total length has beeD 



