COMPAEATIVE MOEPHOLOGY OF THE GALEODID^. SOT 



disposal for three consecutive sessions, during one of wliich I was granted tlie 

 Marshall Scholarship. Por material I am indehted to Professor Howes, who kindly 

 obtained for me specimens of two genera, Galeodes and Rliax [I further take this 

 opportunity of acknowledging my great indebtedness to Professor Howes for much 

 invaluable and sympathetic advice] ; to Pi'ofessor Mobius, director of the Berlin 

 Museum, who kindly sent me four large specimens labelled " Galeodes cjrrecus (Koch)," 

 but which, according to Mr. Pocock, are G. arabs (Koch) ; to Professor Tichomirotf, of 

 Moscow, who generously sent me some fine specimens of Galeodes and Rhux ; and, lastly, 

 to Miss Hay, formerly of Tashkeud, for two specimens of Galeodes and one of Rhax. 



Some of these specimens were cut into sections, a difficult process, owing to the 

 enormous thickness of the cuticle in various parts of the ce2)halothorax, and others were 

 dissected. 



I have further examined the collection of Galeodidae, containing five genera {Galeodes^ 

 Solpuga, Rhax, Clcobis, and Glncia), in the Eritisli Museum, and owe my best thanks 

 to my friend Mr. E.. I. Pocock, who has charge of them, not only for his courtesy in 

 placing them at my disposal, but also for much friendly advice and criticism *. I have 

 followed Mr. Pocock's classification throughout. 



Owing to the necessarily limited supply of these rare animals, there are many points 

 left entirely untouched. And, further, owing to the indifferent state of j)reservation in 

 which the specimens come from the collectors, many important histological questions 

 can only be provisionally answered. Nevertheless, the positive results obtained are of 

 sufficient interest and importance to justify tliis publication in the hoj)e that, at some 

 future time, if my efforts to obtain material are successful, it will be followed by a 

 supplement supplying at least some of the deficiencies. 



HiSTOPaCAL. 



In 1797 Lichtenstein and Herbst published an intei'esting historical account of the 

 Galeodidae +. All the references to the group to be found in the works of previous 

 writers, ancient and modern, are quoted, and the manner of life of some of the commoner 

 forms is described. 



The first compreliensive account of the anatomy of the Galeodidae, by Modest Kittary, 

 appeared in 18^8 (41). It deals with two species called by the author G. aranoides 

 and G. intrepklus. The description is on the whole very accurate, and many of the 

 results obtained seem not to have received the attention they deserve. Blanchard's 



* 1 have also serial sections of Pseudoscorpions, Phalangidaj, Araneae, Scorpions, Thelj-phonidte, and Phrynidaj, 

 for most of which I am indebted to my wife. My thanks are also due to my friend Mr. Martin Woodward for some 

 beautiful sections of Scorpio and Spiders. I further dissected I'hri/nus, large .Spiders, and Scorpions for tlio 

 purpose of comparison. 



t " Natnrgeschichte der Insekten-Gattungen Solpuga und Phalangiam " : Uerlin, 1797. The authors adduce 

 reasons for believing that the " mice " which plagued the Philistines [I. Samuel, 5 and 6J were " Wind-scorpions," 

 as the Arabs call Galeodes. They record the evil reputation of this animal, which is said to have forced the inhabitants 

 of flourishing regions to desert their habitations, and to be particularly dangerous to sleepers, man and beast. The 

 fact of its having the same name among the ancients as mouse and shrew-mouse suggests an explanation of some of 

 the superstitious about shrew-mice and cattle which still sur\-ive among us. 



41* 



