13 



other insects, these become so shriveled as to make it sometimes 

 impossible to recognize them, and always so to describe new 

 species. Spiders should be preserved in diluted alcohol, or 

 brandy, in which they preserve their form, though their colors 

 are usually impaired in it. 



The number of one hundred and twenty-five species will 

 appear very large, but I could have swelled the list to one hun- 

 dred and fifty. Spiders differ from true insects, or at least 

 winged insects, in their growing. They come out from their 

 eggs very minute, and continue to increase in size, probably for 

 several years in many species ; whereas, with few exceptions, 

 insects come out of their pupa state, at once, with the size 

 which is peculiar to them. The Arane'ides, in their different 

 ages, present differences of color and marking. The seasons 

 also produce a change in the colors of some spiders ; and I am 

 nearly convinced that the first frosts produce a total change in 

 the dress of several described Epeirae which may be referred to 

 one name. These are the considerations which have induced 

 me to be very cautious in adopting new species, and comparing 

 many specimens in different seasons, when possible, before I 

 described them. 



[From the Am. Jonrn. Science and Arts, xi.i, 116.] 



Art. XII. Description of an American Spider, Consti- 

 tuting a new Subgenus of the .Tribe In\equitel.e 

 of Latreiei.e. By Prof. N. M. Hentz, Florence, Ala. 



The genus Aranea of Linnaeus, like most of the genera es- 

 tablished by that great man, is now in fact an extensive family 

 of the animal kingdom. Walckenaer and Latreille subdivided 

 it, and at once classified the numerous species known to them 

 in an admirable order. We may add the species since discov- 



