a 
Among the Faunistic works, that treat of European Arachnida, BLACKWALL’S 
Spiders of Great Britain and Ireland (1861—1864) and WESTRING’S Ara- 
nec Suecice (1861) undoubtedly occupy the first place, both on account 
of the high degree of perfection, to which these two works have carried our 
knowledge of the Spider-fauna of these two countries, and for the light they 
spread upon a large number of previously unknown or only imperfectly 
known species of the group of animals whereon they treat.) A compara- 
tive examination of these two almost contemporaneous works is in more than 
one respect a matter of the greatest interest; indeed a comparison of the 
synonymous denominations of the various species described in them is abso- 
lutety necessary, for, as each of these authors appears to have been igno- 
rant of the other's works — even those, which had been published previously 
to the works above mentioned — it has happened, that a large number of 
species common to both have been described in each with a totally different 
nomenclature. The results, to which I have been led by such a compari- 
son, have been the primary cause of my making, and also constitute the 
prineipal subject of, the following annotations, in which I have first and 
prineipally endeavoured to fix the nomenclature of the spiders known to me, 
that are described in the works of WESTRING and BLACKWALL, adding such 
remarks as I supposed to possess any synonymical importance or utility. 
To these notes on WEsrRINGS and BLACKWALL’s works I have added some 
1) A faunistic work now in progress, and which, when complete, may worthi- 
ly take its place beside the works of BLACKWALL and WESTRING, is MENGE's Preus- 
sische Spinnen, Danzig 1866—68. Another less exteusive but highly meritorious per- 
formance is OHLERTS Die Araneiden oder echten Spinnen der Provinz Preussen, 
Leipzig 1867. To both these works we shall in the following pages often have oc- 
casion to refer. 
Nova Acta Reg. Soc. Se. Ups. Ser. III. 1 
