126 ZOOLOCxY. 



that it remained motionless for fourteen days. It was nocturnal, rapacious, 

 and was able to bite hard coleoptera into pieces. Its chief food was insects, 

 which it masticated, and did not suck out, in the manner of spiders. They 

 fight fiercely with each other, the victor eating the vanquished. The female 

 watches her eggs and young with much assiduity. The latter, according to 

 the same author, were hatched in fourteen days, and did not stir for three 

 weeks, when they moulted and became active. Galeodes lives under stones, 

 and digs holes for itself in the earth. 



Order 4. Polymerosomata. In this order, which is the first of the section 

 Pulmonaria, the body has distinct segments. 



Fam. 1. Scorpionidw. Scorpio {j>l. TT, fig. 51) ; BidJms {fig. 52). 

 These animals are remarkable for the articulated tail-like extension of the 

 abdomen in the typical sub-family ScoTpioninm., in which the end of the 

 abdomen is armed with a poisonous sting. The scorpions have another 

 peculiar appendage, being a kind of comb upon each side of the base of the 

 abdomen beneath. The eyes vary in number and position, and thus afford 

 characters for various genera. Tlie mouth is situated at the base of the 

 palpi and the two anterior pairs of feet. 



The extent to which the sting of scorpions is mortal, and the existence 

 of a pore or pores to give egress to the poison, have been matters of dispute 

 both in ancient and modern times. Pliny and Tertullian assert correctly, 

 that it is not the wound of the sting, but the poisonous liquid, which is the 

 cause of the evil. The poison gland opens by a pore on each side of the 

 jDoint of the sting. The sting of the small species seems to occasion no 

 greater injury than that of a hornet or similar insect, whilst that of 

 the larger species is believed to be fatal in certain cases. The Arabs, 

 and the inhabitants generally of countries infested by the larger scorpions, 

 regard them with horror. The sting is used in defence, and in killing the 

 insects which are taken for food. They carry the tail curved upwards in 

 walking. They are solitary, living in dark places, and often entering 

 houses and taking refuge in beds, clothing, boots, &c. The scorpions are 

 found in the warm regions of both continents ; in North and South America ; 

 and two identical species are found in the Mediterranean region of Europe, 

 Asia, and Africa. 



In the sub-family, Thelipliomna\ the sting and abdominal combs are 

 absent, and the abdomen ends in a slender tail. 



Fam. 2. PhnjnidcB. This family forms a link in the passage to the 

 Dimerosomata, as the general appearance approaches that of a spider, the 

 abdomen being oval and pedunculated, although it is segmented, and without 

 a caudal appendage. Phrynus., the only genus of the family, has but six 

 ambulatory feet, the anterior pair being very long and slender, and having 

 all the articulations following the femur replaced by a multitude of small 

 articulations, giving to these organs a kind of antennal character, wdiicli is 

 observable in a less degree in Thehjphonus^ where the tarsus alone is thus 

 subdivided. 



Order 5. Dimerosomata. In this order, which includes the spiders, the 

 body is divided into cephalothorax and abdomen, the latter being joined to 

 330 



