Oe ll ok i, 
SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 
INTRODUCTION 
AN 
193 
TO BRITISH SPIDERS: 
By FRANK PERCY SMITH. 
INTRODUCTION. 
] AM chiefly influenced in writing the following 
introduction to a study of the Spiders of Great 
Britain, by the impression that there are many 
workers who would be willing to take up this most 
interesting, but curiously neglected branch of Natural 
Science, if they could find means of obtaining some 
initial information upon the subject, that did not entail 
too large an expenditure of money. The literature 
available is generally ex- 
pensive and out of date, 
and the classifications 
adopted are, at first sight, 
so at variance, that a 
beginner might well 
tempted to give up in des- 
pair, and devote his atten- 
tion to some less intricate 
group. ‘*The Spiders of 
Great Britain and Ireland,” 
by John Blackwall, 
although a fine book in 
many respects, is rather 
behind the present know- 
ledge of the subject, and 
the more recent work ‘‘ The 
Spiders of Dorset,” by the 
Rey. O.  Pickard-Cam- 
bridge, has the disadvan- 
tage of containing but few 
illustrations. The classifi- 
cation of the Araneidea, 
especially in the case of 
the family Therididae, has 
grown more complicated 
since the publication of the 
latter work. This is partly 
owing to the discovery of 
a large number of new ' 
species, but chiefly to the i 
energy of several eminent 
arachnologists on the 
Continent, who have 
divided a few large and most unsatisfactory genera, 
into a number of smaller and more useful ones. 
Owing to the limited extent of the space at my 
disposal I shall not be able to give detailed descriptions 
of species, nor would such a proceeding be here 
be A 
Fig i. 
advisable. I shall endeavour, by mentioning 
various peculiar and distinctive characters, to 
indicate most of the well-known species. My 
intention is that these pages shall be, in regard to more 
pretentious works on the subject, as a handbook for 
first reference. 
Dec., 1899.—No. 67, Vol. VI. 
-Atypus piceus (magnified). 
H 
In the study of spiders, as in most branches of 
Natural Science, there are difficulties to be met. 
I will now proceed to enumerate some of these, and 
the methods by which they may be overcome. The 
first that presents itself to a beginner, is the forming of 
a mental picture of a species from a detailed 
description. It is possible to partially overcome this 
by learning the names of the parts of a spider, which 
are used in such descriptions, and also the purport of 
the adjectives indicating 
the form and colour of these 
sections. The parts enu- 
merated and described in 
the following list will be 
sufficient for purposes of 
iy identification ; but the stu- 
dent is advised to consult 
more complete descriptions 
in order to obtain some 
knowledge concerning the 
internal anatomy of the 
Araneidea. A good plan 
is to examine the external 
structure of some common 
spider, corresponding to the 
following list of the ex- 
terior anatomy, by the 
method hereafter indicated. 
With regard to the shape 
and colour of the indivi- 
dual parts, it isimpossible, 
however accurate one may 
be, to convey an exact 
impression of their appear- 
ance, but this difficulty may 
to a.great extent be ob- 
viated bythe preparation of 
carefully-drawn diagrams. 
t The colours of spiders are 
i of secondary importance 
only, difference of tint, 
however distinct, simply 
constituting a variety, 
providing the structural details are identical. For 
example, we find that 7herzdion lineatum Clk. is 
often described as being of a pale yellow or white 
colour, but it is very possible that a large percentage 
of captures will have two broad bands of crimson on 
the abdomen, and I have taken specimens in which 
these bands were so developed as to occupy the whole 
of the upper abdominal region, with the exception of 
a narrow white line along the central portion. 
The following list contains all the parts used in the 
description of families, genera, and species. Fig. 2 
