Professor T. G. Bonney — Basalt of the Moahite Stone. 493 



of the third, foui'th, and fifth pairs of appendages movable and separated by 

 a wide sternal area, which was membranous at the sides and fm-nished with 

 a median longitudinal sternal plate, extending anteriorly between the coxse of 

 the appendages of the thii-d pair (first pair of walking-legs). 



Anthracomarti. 

 b. Prosoma and opisthosoma not movably jointed together, and at least the anterior 

 four somites of the opisthosoma fused. Lateral portions of terga and sterna 

 of opisthosoma not produced into movably jointed lamina}. Coxaj of the 

 posterior appendages free or united to the prosoma, the sternal region of 

 which is reduced to a narrow longitudinal sclerite by the encroachment of the 

 appendages towards the middle Kne, or to a short transverse plate by the 

 forward movement of the sternal elements of the anterior somites of the 



opisthosoma PHALANGIOMORPHiK. 



But whetber the definition of the Opiliones be extended to include 

 the Anthracomarti or whetber the latter be regarded as an order 

 apart, are questions of subordinate importance. The chief interest 

 attached to these Carboniferous Arachnida lies in the fact that, 

 setting aside the development of the specialized tergal laminas, the 

 characters in which they differ from the Opiliones serve to link 

 the latter to the Pedipalpi. The fusion of the prosoma with the 

 opisthosoma, and of more or fewer of the tergal plates of the latter 

 region with each other ; the reduction in number of the segments 

 of the opisthosoma to ten, including the anal valve, or eight ; the 

 immobility of the coxee of the appendages and their admedian 

 approximation on the lower side of the prosoma, accompanied by 

 the reduction in size of the sternal sclerite, are a few of the many 

 specialized features of the Opiliones. But since the Arachnida of 

 this order are descended from forms in Avhich the opisthosoma 

 consisted of twelve separately jointed segments and was movably 

 articulated to the prosoma, and in which the appendages of this 

 region were freely movable and were separated by a broad sternal 

 area furnished with a large sternal plate or plates, the existence 

 of forms antecedent to the Opiliones and occupying an intermediate 

 position between them and the primitive type is a necessity demanded 

 by the theory of descent. The nearest known allies to these 

 antecedent forms are, I believe, the extinct Arachnida belonging to 

 the Carboniferous Anthracomarti. 



A 



III. — The Basalt of the Moabite Stone. 



By Professor T. G. Bonney, D.Sc, LL.D., F.K.S. 



BLOCK of basalt, bearing an ancient inscription in a Semitic 

 language, was discovered in 1868 at Dhiban (the Dibon of 

 Scripture) by the Eev. F. A. Klein, of the Jerusalem Mission Society. 

 This block, which measured 3' 10" x 2' 0'' x V 2-5", proved on 

 examination to have been erected by Mesha, King of Moab about 

 890 B.C., and to refer to the war mentioned in 2 Kings iii. A series 

 of blunders on the part of those anxious to obtain this interesting 

 relic caused a quarrel about ownership between two Arab tribes, and 

 one of them, to spite the other, broke it in pieces. These, however, 

 were obtained by the French Consul in Palestine, and sent to 

 Paris, where the}?^ were fitted together so far as possible, and the 



