BLACKWALL's SPIDEES OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 411 



therefore fairly conclude that the present catalogue of British Spiders 

 must be very incomplete. 



Mr. BlackwalTs present volume comprises seven families: the 

 Mygaiidse, Lycosida?, Salticidae, Thomisida?, Drassidae, Cinifionidae and 

 Agelenidse, comprising twenty genera. The author, however, gives no 

 complete family characters, and the generic descriptions, in which he 

 generally follows Walckenaer and other authorities, are far from being 

 satisfactory. It would have been a great boon to anatomists if Mr. 

 Blackwall had given a tabular arrangement of the genera, like those 

 in the Histoire Naturelle des Crustaces. This Ave will attempt in 

 some measure to supply ; taking Mr. BlackwalTs own words, and 

 treating his last five families as one great group. 



Eight genera, named Lycosa, Hecaerge, Dolomedes, Sphasus, 

 jEresus, Salticus, Textrix and Cceletes have the eyes unequal ; and 

 four, Lycosa, Sphasus, Eresus and Salticus may be recognised by the 

 relative position of these organs ; though we may observe that in 

 the several figures of Lycosce the posterior row is made too large, and 

 that this is the case even in the enlarged figure, specially intended to 

 show the arrangement characteristic of the genus. In Hecaerge, 

 Dolomedes, Textrix and Coelotes the eyes are in two rows, both of 

 which are straight in Coelotes, while the posterior at least is curved 

 in the other three genera. In Hecaerge the lip is small, triangular 

 and truncate at the extremity, while in Textrix and Dolomedes it is 

 nearly quadrate. These two genera in Mr. BlackwalTs arrangement 

 belong to altogether different families ; and an analysis of genera in 

 this manner often gives a very unnatural arrangement ; indeed the 

 principal object of it is to separate allied groups. 



In Dolomedes the maxillae are straight, while in Textrix they are 

 curved towards the lip. Of the remaining genera in which the eyes 

 are more or less equal in size, three, namely, Cinifio, Ergatis and Ve- 

 leda, forming the Ciniflonidae, have a comb on the hind legs. Two 

 of the remainder, Tlwmisus and Philodromus are characterised by 

 having the legs extended laterally. In Drassus, Clubiona, Agelena 

 and Argyroneta the two eye rows are parallel. In Tegenaria the 

 posterior row is described as being concave in front, and the anterior 

 row nearly straight, but in the figure given (PI. XII. fig. 107), which 

 is, we believe, correct, this description is by no means verified. Wale- 

 kenaer has falleu into exactly the same inaccuracy, though he has 

 selected a different species {S. domesticd) for illustration. Sparassus, 

 which has the anterior row convex in front and the posterior row 

 straight, has only one English species, which is brightly coloured. 



The single English species of the genus Argyroneta will offer no 

 difficulty to the Naturalist. Agelena has the eye rows concave in 

 front* and the maxillae short. In Drassus and Clubiona the maxillae 

 are long ; being in the former curved towards the lip, and in the 

 latter straight. 



* This curvature is unfortunately reversed in several of the figures. 



