BRITISH SPECIES OF FALSE-SCORPIONS. 203 



modified when compared to the corresponding parts of the palpi in 

 the Araneidea, and form together a terminal portion like a pair of 

 forceps, pincers, or nippers similar to the didactyle claw of a 

 lobster or crab. The base of the pincers is more or less rounded 

 or bulbous, and has its inner extremity produced into a long finger- 

 like fixed claw, against which is opposed another very similar one 

 articulated to the bulb. The bulbous portion represents the 

 radial, and the articulated claw the digital joint. The use of this 

 pair of nippers is to seize and hold their prey ; though they do not 

 appear to possess much power of compression or pinching with 

 them. It is by their means that, as before observed, some of these 

 little creatures obtain the assistance of flies, for the purpose of 

 locomotion by laying hold of the fly's leg. The relation, length, 

 and form of the different joints of the palpi are of great importance 

 in the differentiation of the species. 



The f dices are often large, short, two-jointed, and project 

 immediately beneath the fore margin of the caput. The basal 

 joint of each falx is the largest, and the next (articulated to it) is 

 of a fang or claw-shape opposed to the produced claw-like inner or 

 superior extremity of the basal joint, and with it forming a pair 

 of forceps. The falces possess several curious and characteristic 

 appendages called the galea, the flagellum, and the serrula, but 

 their function is not yet certainly known, and they are not easily 

 observed, nor do they appear to be always present. M. Simon 

 has made use of the two latter in his sub-division of this group 

 into families. The galea is a transparent cylindrical apophysis 

 directed forwards at the extremity of the moveable fang of the 

 falces ; the serrula is also transparent and attached to the base on 

 the inner side of the same fang ; and the flagellum is a small trans- 

 parent process on the inner side of the basal portion of the falx. 



The Abdomen is, in general, formed of 11 segments above and 

 9 underneath, covered by transverse coriaceous plates, united by 

 lateral membranes. These plates are often divided longitudinally. 



The orifices of the breathing organs are situated beneath the an* 

 terior portion of the abdomen, at the extremities of the 2nd and 



