424 ARACHNIDA SOLIFUGAE chap. 



first being carried aloft like the pedipalps, and used for feeling 

 and manipulating the prey. 



There has been much controversy as to the poisonous pro- 

 perties with which these creatures have been very widely credited 

 by both ancient and modern writers. The people of Baku on 

 the Caspian consider them especially poisonous after their winter 

 sleep. The Eussians of that region much dread the " Falangas," 

 as they call them, and keep a Falanga preserved in oil as an 

 antidote to the bite. The Somalis, on the other hand, have no 

 fear of them, and, though familiar with these animals, have not 

 thought them worthy of the dignity of a name. 



Several investigators have allowed themselves to be bitten 

 without any special result. Some zoologists have found and 

 described what they have taken to be poison-glands, but these 

 appear to be the coxal glands, which have an excretory function. 

 Bernard ^ suggests that, if the bite be poisonous, the virus may 

 exude from the numerous setal pores which are found on the 

 extremities of the chelicerae. The cutting powers of the im- 

 mensely-developed chelicerae are usually sufficient to ensure fatal 

 results on small animals without the agency of poison. Distant,^ 

 indeed, thinks they cannot be poisonous, for when birds attack 

 them they flee before their assailants. 



The Solifugae require a tolerably warm climate. In Europe 

 they are only found in Spain, Greece, and Southern Eussia. 

 They abound throughout Africa, and are found in South-Western 

 Asia, the southern United States, and the north of South 

 America. They appear to be absent from Australia, nor have 

 any been found in Madagascar. Their usual food appears to be 

 insects, though they devour lizards with avidity. Some interest- 

 ing observations on their habits are recorded by Captain Hutton,^ 

 who kept specimens in captivity in India. An imprisoned 

 female made a burrow in the earth with which her cage was 

 provided, and laid fifty eggs, which hatched in a fortnight, 

 but the young remained motionless for three weeks longer, when 

 they underwent their first moult, and became active. 



A sparrow and musk rats were at different times placed in the 

 cage, and were speedily killed, but not eaten. Two specimens 

 placed in the same cage tried to avoid each other, but, on coming 



1 Trans. Linn. Soc. (2), vi., 1896, i\ 323. '- Nature, xlvi., 1892, p. 247. 



=* Ann. Nat. Hist. (1), xii., 1843, p. 81. 



