1848.] Linnean Society. 13 



December 19. 

 The Lord Bishop of Norwich, President, in the Chair. 



Mr. J. O. Westwood, F.L.S., exhibited five new species of Paus- 

 sidcE from Mozambique, belonging to the collection of A. Melly, Esq.; 

 also five Australian species of Adelotopus, a genus closely allied to 

 Pseudomorpha, Kirby in Linn. Trans. 



Mr. Westwood also exhibited a piece of Memel timber used in 

 submarine erections at Southampton, destroyed by Chehra terebrans, 

 a crustaceous animal not hitherto observed in England, although pre- 

 viously found in Ireland and Scotland. 



Mr. Adam White, F.L.S., exhibited three curious species oi He- 

 miptera belonging to the genera Scaptocoris and Petalochirus. He 

 made some remarks on fossorial insects in general, illustrating them 

 with specimens of a New Zealand Mole- Cricket and of a new genus 

 of Carahidce, allied to Scarites. He particularly described a new spe- 

 cies of Scaptocoris {S. Amyoti) from Northern India, remarkable in- 

 asmuch as it forms a second distinct species of a very striking genus 

 hitherto known to occur only in Brazil (S. castaneus, Perty). 



Read a paper, entitled " Experiments and Observations on the 

 Poison of Animals of the Order Araneidea." By John Blackwall, Esq., 

 F.L.S.&c. 



After referring to the fabulous accounts of the singular effects said 

 to be produced in the human species by the bite of the Tarantula, and of 

 the serious and sometimes fatal consequences attributed to that of the 

 Malmignatte, Mr. Blackwall proceeds to consider the validity of an 

 opinion prevalent among arachnologists of the present day, that in- 

 sects pierced by the fangs of spiders die almost instantaneously. He 

 states that in the summer of 1846 he commenced an experimental 

 investigation of the subject, the particulars of which he commu- 

 nicates, arranging his experiments under four distinct heads, corre- 

 sponding to the objects upon which they were made, namely the 

 human species, spiders, insects, and inanimate substances. The ex- 

 periments are detailed at length, and the following are the principal 

 results. 



First, as regards the effect of the bite of spiders upon the human 

 species. The species selected was Epe'ira Diadema, and Mr. Black- 

 wall states the legitimate conclusion deducible from various expe- 

 riments to be, that there is nothing to apprehend from the bite of the 



