.May iSSS.J 



PSYCHE. 



r65 



-HABITS OF MYGALE IN CONFINE- 

 MENT. 



Mr. Henn' C. McC'ook hiis published (Proc. 

 Acad. nat. sci. of Philadelphia for 18S7) some 

 notes on the habits of Mvgale henfzii \\W\\^ 

 kept in confinement in Philadelphia. Mr. 

 McCook has had the best success in keeping 

 spiders by feeding them well in summer and 

 giving them but little during the winter, but 

 lets them have all the w^ater thej want at all 

 seasons. One Mygale lived over five years, 

 and finally died soon after moulting, though 

 it had moulted safely several times in previous 

 -years. The last moult happened in spring, 

 before the spider had much to eat, and for 

 this reason, probably, it was too weak to re- 

 cover from the effects. One of Mr. McCook's 

 mygales lost several limbs while moulting. 

 He says "two of the legs refused to separate 

 -from the skin, and after a prolonged struggle 

 they were broken off at the coxae and re- 

 mained within the moult. One foot of another 

 leg shared the same fate." This moult oc- 

 curred in the spring. In August the spider 

 moulted again, and by this time the lost limbs 

 had grown again, complete but a little smaller 

 than before. 



The digging of these mygales was done 

 -with the fore legs and palpi. The dirt was 

 •not scratched up by the feet or kicked back- 

 ward but gathered into balls between the 

 mandibles, palpi and t'eet and carried awav 

 from the hole. 



yames H: Emerton. 



PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 



CAMBRIDGE ENTC'MOLOG I CAL CLUB. 



8 Jan. 1886. — The ii6th meeting. [C<j;/- 

 tijiued from p. 44-^ 



Abstract of the Secretarfs Report on the 

 Library^ 8 yan. 18S6. By G : Dimmock. 



The circumstances which led the secretary 

 to assume the duties of librarian are given in 

 detail. . . . 



The accession book has been written up to 

 the end of 18S5 and enumerates 1355 acces- 



sions. Of these 164 belong properly to the 

 year 1885. . . 



The books of the library have been classi- 

 fied by subjects according to the Dewey deci- 

 mal classification. . . Only a small portion of 

 the books are catalogd on slips. . . Some of 

 the separates and smaller pamflets have 

 been furnished with stiff" manilla-paper cov- 

 ers, and many more separates need to be thus 

 protected. 



The rules concerning the loan of book,s 

 remain the same as they were in 18S2, when 

 they were printed in our annual reports. 



12 Feb. 1886. — The 117th meeting Avas held 

 at 61 Sacramento St., Cambridge, 12 Feb. 

 1886. In the absence of the president, Mr. 

 T. W. Harris was chosen chairman. 



Mr. Roland Hay ward remarked on the dila;" 

 tion of the first three joints of the middl.e 

 tarsi of some of our species of Djtisct/s.j He 

 asked if the patellae of the middle tafsi are 

 functional or not. 



Dr. G : Dimmock showed some specimens 

 of chrysomeltdae to illustrate the subject of 

 color-variation, and made remarks upon ex- 

 periments which he intended to try during 

 the coming summer in order to produce 

 color-varieties in insects. 



12 Mar. 1886. — The I i8th meeting was held 

 at 61 Sacramento St., Cambridge, 12 March, 

 1886. In the absence of the president Prof. 

 W: Trelease was elected chairman. 



The report of the ti'easurer, Mr. B : P. 

 Mann, for the year 18S5 was read by the 

 secretary, and having already received tl^ 

 approval of the auditing committee, was 

 approved. 



[An abstract of this report is appended to 

 the report of this meeting.] 



Nominations nos. 134-135 were acted upon 

 and the following persons elected to active 

 membership: 134. Philip Stanley Abbott, 

 of Cambridge. 135. Frank Sedgwick Child, 

 of Cambridge. 



Nominations nos. 136-142, all for active 

 membership, were presented, as follows: 

 136. Prof. T : J. Burrill, of Champaign, 111., 



