98 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



finger. It then repeated the operation with its other fingers, 

 and also cleaned one chelicera with the other. I did not 

 clearly see the finger of the chelicera open up the teeth 

 of the serrula, but the action in this case also was quite 

 distinctly a cleaning process. 



Reproduction. 



The habits of False-scorpions during the period of repro- 

 duction form by far the most interesting episode of their 

 life-history. These habits are subject to great variation and 

 must be considered in detail under the different species, but 

 they may be described here in a general way. The females 

 of some genera, e.g. Obisiiun and Chthonius, before beginning 

 to lay, shut themselves up in a compact nest constructed of 

 earth or other material and lined with silk, and they remain 

 inside this nest until the young are able to go off on their own 

 accord. The females of other genera, e.g. CJielifer and Chernes^ 

 carry their larval mass about with them while they continue 

 to live a free life. The eggs appear at first as a small white 

 speck on the under-surface of the hind-body, and gradually 

 swell out in the process of developing till they form a rela- 

 tively large mass attached to the female. The eggs soon 

 hatch and give place to larvae of peculiar form, which in the 

 majority of cases undergo all their changes during the 

 attachment to the mother ; when the young False-scorpions 

 are able to begin life for themselves, they are perfect copies 

 in miniature of the adults. At first these free young ones 

 are practically colourless, and they only gradually assume 

 the deep hues of the adult. Subsequently, they moult at 

 least once, in a nest made for the purpose, before they reach 

 their adult stage ; and in some species both immature and 

 adult individuals hibernate solitarily inside nests. 



Spinning. 



The method of spinning in this group is surrounded 

 even yet with some uncertainty, but it is known that the 

 chelicerae play an important part in the spinning processes 

 of the False -scorpions. Further observations are neces- 



