Mr. Tl. H. Meade on the British species of Phalangiidse. 397 



shorter than the second, and neither of them equals the femur 

 in length. The remaining part of the leg is denominated the 

 tarsus, and divided into numerous joints, the number of which 

 varies in difterent species; the proximal joint is much longer 

 than the succeeding ones, and is called by Koch* the heel ; this 

 is generally more or less distinctly subdivided into other joints, 

 which seem however to be immoveable. Koch considers the 

 variations in number of the subjoints of the heel and of the 

 joints of the tarsus as forming valuable generic characters, but 

 they appear to me to be too artificial, and will be found too dif- 

 ficult of application to be of much practical value. 



The last subject to be mentioned in this sketch of the external 

 anatomy of the Fhalangiidfe is the situation of the generative 

 organs. In this point the Harvest-men differ remarkably from 

 the true Spiders, for in the latter the males may at once be 

 distinguished from the females by the peculiar position of these 

 organs at the extremity of the palpi, while in the Phalangiidse 

 they are placed in the same situation in both sexes, and present 

 no external points of difference, so that it sometimes becomes 

 very difficult (particularly in immatui-e specimens) to distinguish 

 the males from the females. 



On the fore part of the under surface of the abdomen, imme- 

 diately behind the parts composing the mouth, and extending 

 as far forwards as the coxpe of the third pair of legs, an ob- 

 tuseh' triangular body is placed, which is called the sternum by 

 Mr. Talk. This is the covering of the sheath of the sexual 

 organs, the orifice leading to which is concealed beneath a 

 thickened lip on its anterior border. If the sides of the front 

 part of the abdomen are gently pressed by the finger and thumb 

 in living adult specimens, the penis of the male, or the ovipositor 

 of the female, may easily be made to protrude (an observation 

 originally made by Lister), and thus the sexes may be distin- 

 guished. The male organ is a long slender curved body fur- 

 nished at its extremity with a recurved hook, while the ovipo- 

 sitor is an elongated membranous tube surrounded by annuli or 

 rings, which give it much the appearance of the trachea or 

 windpipe of a small animal. 



With regard to the habits of the Phalangiidse very little is 

 known. Their long legs enable them to run with great rapidity, 

 particularly over grass and bushes ; and Latreille says that they 

 also act as feelers, for while resting upon a wall or tree, they are 

 usually extended round the body in a circular manner at their 

 full length, and if one of them is touched by any dangerous ob- 

 ject, the Harvest-man immediately drops to the ground and 



* Uebcrsicht des Arachnidensystems, 2 Heft, p. 22. 



