OF ARTS AND SCIENCES: NOVEMBER 14, 1865. 53 



matter was known, expressed his confident belief that this new silken 

 product could be made of some practical utility, especially in view of 

 the anticipated scarcity of ordinary silk ; and it is in great measure due 

 to his advice and assistance that the experiments and investigations 

 recounted below have been made. 



The only mention of this spider is in the German work of C. L. 

 Koch, "Die Arachniden," where in Vol. VI. is described, under the 

 name of Nephila plumipes, a mutilated female specimen, the only one 

 ever collected, and which is preserved in the museum of J. Sturm at 

 Nuremberg. This description and its accompanying figure are very 

 imperfect, but until a careful comparison can be made between the 

 original specimen and some of my own, I will consider the latter as 

 representatives o^ N. plumipes ; though an -accurate description 'and fig- 

 ure shall be made as soon as possible. 



The following general description applies only to the females, the 

 males being very small and of a different color. 



Nephila (plumipes ?) Koch. A large and very elegant species of 

 Nephila, resembling most of its congeners In the general form of the 

 body, and, like N. clavipes and N. fasciculata^ possessing peculiar col- 

 lections of stiff hairs upon the legs, but differing from these two species 

 in that these hairs are more closely set so as to justify the German 

 term "Haarblirste" (Hair-brushes). 



In general the cepalo-thorax is black above, but covered, except in 

 spots, by silver-colored hairs. The abdomen is olive-brown, variously 

 marked with yellow and white spots and stripes. On the first, second, 

 and fourth pair of legs are one or two brushes of stiff" black hairs point- 

 ing outward away from the body. The length of the body is one and 

 one tenth inches, and the spread of the legs from two and three fourths 

 in a lateral, to three and three fourths inches in a longitudinal direc- 

 tion. The length of the body of the male is about one third of an 

 inch, and his general color is brown. His palpi are clubbed near the 

 extremities, and end in a sharp point turning outward. 



With the exception of the first and only specimen discovered upon 

 Folly Island, and a cocoon found on James Island, I have met with 

 this spider only upon Long Island and one or two similar bits of 

 land in the vicinity. They are all low, sandy, and marshy, covered 

 with palmetto and pine trees, uninhabited, and apparently never befo^e 

 visited by naturalists. 



These spiders are specially abundant upon Long Islasnd, and are 



