10 



DoLOMEDEs, (Latr.). 



Eyes 8, unequal in size, PI. 18, fig. 73 or 55 ; legs 4. 2. 1. 3. 

 wandering near streams or ponds, often hiding under the sur- 

 face of the water, or rambling on trees. Six species. Dr. T. 

 W. Harris sent me a species, the female of which constructs a 

 web not unlike that of Tegenaria ; but that retreat is limited to 

 one sex, and probably used only to protect the cocoon until 

 the young are hatched and able to go abroad. 



Lycosa, (Latr.). 



Eyes 8, unequal in size, PL 2, Fig. 8 h ; legs 4. 1. 2. 3. wan- 

 dering about in quest of prey found under stones, in holes, etc., 

 bearing their cocoons attaclied to their anus, and carrying their 

 young on their back. Eleven species known to me. Dr. 

 Charles Pickering, of Salem, Mass., presented me with a col- 

 lection of Araneides, in which were six [l07] or perhaps 

 seven new species from New England, but which are too much 

 dried up to be well delineated or described. That single fact 

 shows how far this is from being a complete list of North 

 American Spiders. The famous Tarantula of the south of 

 Europe, the bite of which for many years was supposed to 

 produce a disease that music alone could cure, belongs to this 

 genus; and I found on Round Hill, Mass., a species (Lyeosa 

 fatifera, my catalogue) which is probably very closely related 

 to the European species, and which dwells in holes nearly a 

 foot deep. These holes seem to be dug by the spider, and to 

 be increased gradually, as its size may require ; the opening 

 has a ring of filaments woven by the spider to prevent the 

 filling up of the cavity by rain. It is in this genus also that 

 we may witness astonishing instances of maternal tenderness 

 and courage ; and that, too, in the most cruel race of animals, 

 a race in which ferocity renders even the approach of the sexes 

 a perilous act, and condemns every individual to perpetual soli- 

 tude, and apprehensions of its own kind. When a mother is 



