THE EMBRYOLOGY OF A SCORPION. 105 



The Embryology of a Scorpion (Euscorpius 

 italicus). 



By 



Malcolm I<aurie, B*Sc», 



JFalconer Fellow of Edinburgh University. 



With Plates XIII— XVIII. 



Since 1870 there has been no detailed work on the de- 

 velopment of the Scorpion. As it seemed likely that with 

 modern methods of section-cutting and the great advance 

 M'hich has been made of late years in the field of embryology, 

 a renewed examination might yield interesting results, I 

 have, at Professor Lankester^s suggestion, examined and cut 

 sections of a large number of embryos of Euscorpius italicus 

 preserved for him by the Zoological Station at Naples. I have 

 also examined a number of embryos of Scorpio (Buthus) 

 fulvipes preserved and sent over from Madras by Professor 

 Bourne. These, however, chiefly owing to the small amount 

 of food-yolk, show such a great difference from E. italicus 

 in their mode of development that it seems better to postpone 

 the description of them to a future paper. 



The Scorpion is interesting not only as being the lowest, and, 

 as far as we know, the oldest type of air-breathing Arachnid, 

 but also as being exceptional among Arthropods in that the 

 whole development takes place within the body of the female — 

 in the ovarian tubes. The only other instances of this with 

 which I am acquainted are Phrynus, which is also viviparous, 



VOL. XXXI, PART II. NEW SER. H 



