SCIENCE-GOSSIF 



297 



■fully developed in both sexes. In London, Liver- 

 pool, Birkenhead, Aldershot, and other towns, the 

 German cockroach is now firmly established, 

 although sometimes restricted to certain circum- 

 iscribed and well-defined areas. It seems par- 

 ticularly partial to hotels and restaurants, in many 

 •of which it even outnumbers the German waiters. 

 ■Observation would seem to show that although 

 ■extremely numerous where occurring, this insect 

 does not extend its range in England to any great 

 extent; but, according to Brunner von Wattenwyl, 

 in Vienna it has practically I'eplaced B. orieJitalis. 

 A well-known hotel near Govent Garden has been 

 overrun with it for years (-*), and Professor Miall 

 mentions that in Leeds it has occurred at one 

 baker's shop since 1855, when it is supposed to 

 have been brought from Southern Eussia by troops 

 returning from the Crimean War. Just such 

 another small colony exists at West Kirby, where, 

 so far as I can discover, it is almost entirely con- 

 fined to a bakehouse and one or two adjoining- 

 cottages. How long the insects have been esta- 

 blished there I cannot say, the evidence to hand 

 being somewhat contradictory ; but it appears they 

 -have increased in numbers considerably during the 

 past decade, although seemingly they have not 

 spread. This apparent inability to extend its 

 range in Britain, to the exclusion of S. orientalis, 

 probably applies with still greater force to our 

 two last-named cockroaches, in which fact seems 

 to lie the reason for the ubiquity of the former 

 insect, which not only increases and multiplies in 

 its own habitation, but slowly disperses over all 

 the 'surrounding neighbourhood, occasionally ex- 

 terminating or expelling other insects that may 

 be in possession. A baker, formerly employed in 

 Birkenhead, informs me that when he first went 

 there the bakehouse was overrun with crickets, but 

 that of late years their place has been taken by 

 " black beetles," and scarcely a cricket is to be seen. 

 In some parts of Central Europe P. germanica lives 

 in woods, like our own really indigenoirs cock- 

 roaches, but I am not aware that it has ever been 

 recorded from the open in Britain. 



These four representatives of the family — viz. 

 Blatta {StUopyga) orientalis, Periplanetaanwricana, 

 P. aiosttralasiae, and Phylloclromia germanica — form 

 the first of three groups into which I have some- 

 what arbitrarily divided our cockroaches, species 

 which although originally introduced may now 

 claim to be regarded as properly naturalised 

 British subjects. 



(26) H. C. E., " Science-aossip," 18G8. 



{To he continned.') 



Geological Survey in Victoria. — Professor 

 J. W. Gregory, F.E.S., has been appointed tem- 

 porary head of the Geological Survey of Victoria, 

 for the iDiirpose of assisting in the complete re- 

 organisation of the stafi:, and its institution on 

 a permanent instead of a temporary basis. 



AN INTEODUCTION TO BRITISH 

 SPIDERS. 



By Frank Percy Smith. 



{Continued from page. 266.) 



GENUS ZILLA KOCH. 



First leg longest. Labium ahnost as long as 

 wide. 



Zilla x-notata Clk. {Epeira siinilis Bl. ) 

 Length. Male 4 mm., female 6 mm. 



Zilla x-notata. Palpus and vulva. 



Palpus of male short. Abdomen of female towards 

 its fore part of a leaden hue. Extremely common 

 on walls and gate-posts. 



Zilla atrica Koch. {Epeira calophylla Bl. ) 

 Length. Male 4 mm., female 6-5 mm. 

 Palpus of male unusually long, the radial joint 

 being excessively elongated. Fore part of abdomen 

 of female suffused with red. Common amongst 

 foliage. 



GENUS ARANEA LINN. 



Labium considerably wider than long. Eyes not 

 equidistant, the centrals being usually separated by 

 a much smaller space than that between one of them 

 and the adjacent lateral. 



Aranea angulata Clk. {Epeira angiilata Bl.) 



Length. Male 10 mm., female 12 mm. 



Male tibia II. thicker than tibia I. Coxa II. 



armed with a sharp spine. Anterior central eyes in 



female larger than posterior centrals. Abdomen with 



a strong conical protuberance on each "shoulder." 



Very rare. 



L ?. 



