216 AQGUSTA RUCKEE. 



tion on the conditions under wliicli the little Arachnids were 

 found, for I thought I knew the soil of Bonhani to be made 

 up of a black-waxy alluvial, entirely free from stones. This 

 condition would necessitate their living entirely in the soil, 

 independent of stones — a condition which I suspected to 

 obtain in the case of K, wheeleri, though the prevalence of 

 several stones in the soil where the latter were found made 

 it more doubtful. 



In immediate reply to both of my requests, on August 3rd 

 I received fifty-five specimens of the new Koenenia, and the 

 following information in regard to their environment : — " I 

 was looking under a cedar hedge for a suitable soil for ferns, 

 shortly after a rain, when I discovered the Koenenia which I 

 sent you. In that place the soil was moist to the depth of 

 several inches, and there the animals were found in greater 

 numbers than I had ever seen them in Austin. I could 

 hardly dig up a spoonful of the soil that did not contain as 

 many as four specimens. The top of the earth- was of a dark 

 reddish-brown colour, due to the deposits for years of decayed 

 cedar branches; below this the soil was very dark, and here 

 the Koenenia were readily observed moving about incessantly. 

 There were no stones anywhere in the neighbourhood, the 



conditions being unlike those found in Austin 



On receiving your letter asking for more material, I was 

 sorry to find the earth quite dry, and no Koenenia in sight. 

 In the evening, however, I watered the hedge thoroughly, 

 and early the next morning I procured as many as I sup- 

 posed you would want." 



On examining the fifty-five specimens sent, I found that 

 they consisted principally of adult females, though a fcAv 

 represented two developmental stages. Hoping to get indi- 

 viduals of both sexes, I again begged for more material, and 

 on August 29tli received fifty-six specimens, while in Sep- 

 tember sixty more were added, making in all one hundred 

 and eighty-two specimens which I had received. Careful 

 examination of all these revealed the same condition that was 

 found in the case of the European K. mirabilis, of which 



