224 Transactions.— Zoology. 
off my horse so as to carefully examine the ground, which was very dry and 
dusty. My suspicions that the spider had rolled itself up in the dust, were 
soon confirmed, by observing that the earth was a little raised or bulged up 
at one part, so I took my knife to turn it out of its dirt heap. Judge of my 
surprise and delight, when no sooner had I applied the point of my knife, 
than up sprang a beautiful trap-door, revealing a large hole going right 
down into the earth, lined with beautiful white silk that shone in the sun, 
and lining the inside of the door, forming a clever and remarkably 
good hinge. I had no doubt now, where the spider had gone, but having 
no tools I could not dig it out. I examined this strange novelty for some 
time, lifting up the wonderful door, and admiring the exactness with which 
it fitted, the perfect mobility of the hinge, the spring with which it imme- 
diately shut down on slipping from the knife, and the marvellous adaptation 
of the outside of the lid to the existing conditions surrounding it. It was 
literally peppered on the outside with loose soil, exactly the same as that 
around, so as to defy detection by any one unacquainted with the way of 
finding such nests. In fact, though I carefully marked several things near 
by, so as to find it again; when I returned with a spade I could not find 
it, and never afterwards came upon this particular nest. Since that time I 
have taken every opportunity of my being in the Oamaru District, to 
observe and record what I saw of them, and in the months of October and 
November of last year, being detained there through illness, I had some 
weeks of leisure to pursue my investigations, the results of which I now 
propose to place before you. 
Distinctions in the Spiders themselves. 
Unfortunately I am not in a position to say what is the name or names 
of the Territelarie now before you, or to determine whether there is more 
than one species. Distinctions of species in the Araneae are very minute, 
and require the skill of an expert to unravel them. Eighteen months ago, 
Captain Hutton kindly sent home to the Rev. P. Cambridge, a few speci- 
mens in a bottle. His reply was, that he thought there were at least two 
_hew species previously unknown to science, but his exhaustive examination 
of them has not yet, through want of time, been transmitted to us. In the 
meantime, other and better specimens have been obtained and sent home; 
some of them to Rey. P. Cambridge, and some with the nests they inhabit to 
the Paris Museum, through the kindness of Dr. Filhol, who was recently 
amongst us. Captain Hutton, however, permits me to say, that after a 
careful examination of the specimens now before you, he is inclined to 
believe that there is only one species, and that the slight differences observ- 
able in individuals, will only result in the separation of varieties. One speci- 
men is marked with greyish spots different from others. It was found in 
