210 Transactions of the 



in roughly agitating the cell, — for either of these causes is sufficient 

 to produce such a result, — I cannot say. I found her load appro- 

 priated by five or six mites (apparently allied to Gamasus), under 

 whose active attacks it soon disappeared entirely, while she, in a 

 very emaciated and excited state, was hurrying to and fro in the 

 cell. To calm and soothe her agitated feehngs, I introduced some 

 five or six lepidocyrti, which quickly fell victims to her appetite, 

 and afterwards she appeared decidedly better. 



The months of June and July passed, and she lived on, and 

 quite recovered meanwhile. At the beginning of August, however, 

 to my great surprise, a second egg-burden began to show itself on 

 the same chelifer. It went on rapidly increasing in size till about 

 the 8th August, when it ceased to grow larger, though the progres- 

 sive development of the contents inside it might be observed daily. 



Lest any mischance like to the other should happen, I carefully 

 removed the suspected young chelifer to a solitary cell, and was 

 very careful in handling that containing the pregnant one. A rough 

 sketch of her appearance at this period is given* (Plate CII., Fig. B). 



But all in vain, for during the night of the 17th August, just 

 when I was expecting, from the advanced development of the con- 

 tained young, that the experiment would be successful, the irritable 

 mother again detached her burden from her body. While I write, 

 some twelve hours afterwards, the contents of the egg-case seem 

 still alive, for slight movements within can be detected; but yet 

 I doubt if the attacks of predaceous mites alone will not prove 

 too much for the further development of the young, even if the 

 separation of the egg from the body of the chelifer is not fatal to 

 its development.! 



The fact of two broods of young, for such I consider it to be, 

 from a chelifer in one summer is, I think, curious and worthy of 

 attention ; moreover, the fecundation of the female is an obscure 

 subject. I must conclude it took place previous to April, since I 

 quite exculpate the Httle chelifer, which was her companion for a 

 long period, for the obvious reason of its youth. 



Beyond noticing these points, I will not hazard any speculations 

 on them. 



Sir John Lubbock says, if I may be permitted to quote from 

 his letter, " The case seems like one of Parthenogenesis, or perhaps 

 the spermatozoa are retained awhile, as in the bees, &c." The same 

 authority has written a paper in ' Phil. Trans.,' " On the Develop- 

 ment of the Egg in the Annulosa," containing a vast amount of 

 matter bearing upon the subject, which those who feel interested 

 should read. 



* I believe the species is C Latreillii. f This proved to be tlie case afterwards. 



