iQOcS] At ane ae T her aphosae of California 213 



altho in a conspicuous place. The chimneys, or "turrets," of 

 At3^poides are more or less conspicuous and attract common 

 attention. "Tarantula holes" are well known to almost every- 

 one, where tarantulas occur. 



A nest once located, the soil is carefully dug away with a 

 small miner's pick, the details of the measurements, directions, 

 branches (if any) , and silk lining being studied and recorded in a 

 field-book, each specimen being given a permanent number and 

 page in the book. The more careful exposing of the burrow is 

 done with a pair of small forceps, with curved points, the pick 

 being used for the rougher digging only. The spider is stored 

 away in a cork-stoppered bottle, a slip of paper bearing the num- 

 ber assigned the individual always being fastened in betw^een the 

 cork and glass. The composition of the trapdoor or turret and its 

 surroundings are usually recorded, and any other notes considered 

 to be of possible interest or use. 



In the laboratory, the spiders are put into about 75% alcohol 

 and laid aside for later study, each in a separate vial and under 

 the number given it in the field. Spiders corked up as brought in 

 from the field have been found to be thoroly alive after having 

 been thus confined for a full week, without fresh air. They die 

 very slowly in potassium-cyanide killing bottles. For study they 

 are placed in a watch-crystal and kept under alcohol, or they are 

 laid out on a blotting-paper or white cloth and allowed to dry for 

 half an hour or so, when most of the external structures are 

 studied with a hand-lens, a dissecting, or a compound, micro- 

 scope; but if left out over an hour, without moistening with a 

 couple of drops of alcohol, the abdomen is apt to shrink, thus 

 deteriorating the specimen. For especially careful study of such 

 portions as the rake of the chelicerae, tarsal claws, etc., dissec- 

 tions carefully mounted in balsam give the most satisfactory 

 results. Even then it is noticed that with such uneven topog- 

 raphy as many spiders possess, "things look different" from 

 different angles and much care is necessary to make a series of 

 comparative drawings worth anything. 



The following key is given to aid in identifying the species 

 discussed in the remaining pages. 



