SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



149 



graphic answers to my inquiry that so often 

 reward honest questioners whose only desire is to 

 know, and which sometimes come to an ordinary 

 student like myself with all the overwhelming 

 force of a new discovery. I found then that the 

 tiny seeds are each encased in a wrapping com- 

 posed of innumerable small, longitudinally-ribbed 

 scales, in shape not unlike those on the wing of 

 the butterfly, but in mass more like great banks of 

 glassy shell deposits. These shards, then, are un- 

 questionably the unwelcome guests at our feast, 

 the irritating palate-ticklers. Unfortunately I am 

 unable to say positively what is really the 

 material of their construction ; but I imagine that 

 these scales are silicious, for, besides being 

 transparent, they also polarise very beautifully, 

 with a rather subdued brilliancy, suggestive 

 of a kinship to the raphides. It would be in- 

 teresting to know with some degree of certainty 

 how they get there, and also what place 

 they fill in the economy of Nature. As to the 

 latter question, is it not probable that these 

 little seeds would be the prey of some voracious 

 insect, or insects, that might soon cause their utter 

 annihilation but for this protective scale armour, 

 while, by this same provision, made infinitely more 

 offensive to the gastronomic organs of its greatest 

 natural enemies than to those of man 1 Or does 

 this delicately-shingled sheath answer the purpose 

 of a garment, of non-conducting material, to pro- 

 tect the delicate little organism within against the 

 effects of extremes of heat and cold 1 Should any 

 of your readers be wishful to examine or make 

 mounts of these interesting objects, they need not 

 wait until next season. They are found plentifully 

 enough in any minutest portion of red-currant jam, 

 and remain there quite uninjured by the process of 

 boiling. — Samuel Howarth, 26 Grange Crescent, 

 Sheffield, September, 1901. 



Distribution of Dysderidae. — Having re- 

 ceived for identification numerous specimens of 

 three species of British Dysderidae, a family of 

 six-eyect spiders, I send these notes, hoping that 

 they may prove of some use to students of distribu- 

 tion. The species are Dysdera crocota C. L. Koch. 

 Eyes arranged in the form of a horseshoe ; cephalo- 

 thorax deep rich red ; abdomen grey ; female 

 distinguished with great difficulty from D. cam- 

 bridgii Thor. The only other British representative 

 of the genus, Dysdera spins a silken tube under 

 loose bark in crevices in stone walls and chalk 

 pits, and even amongst foliage. I have received 

 this species from the following persons : two females 

 sent by Mr. D. F. Heard, 60 Lancaster Road, Leyton- 

 stone, both found indoors, an unusual habitat ; Mr. 

 Vernon B. Crowther Beynon, of Stamford, forwarded 

 a female taken in a garden ; and Mr. S. Rouse, of 

 Woking, several immature specimens. I have 

 taken both sexes in a chalk pit at Horsley, Surrey. 

 Harpactes liombergii Scop. Eyes closely grouped, 

 almost in a circle. General colour brown ; abdo- 

 men grey. This spider may be at once recognised 

 by its narrow, attenuated form. It is usually 

 found in a slight silken tube under bark. Numerous 

 specimens have been received from Mr. C. J. 

 Watkins, Painswick, Gloucestershire, and Mr. S. 

 Rouse, chiefly males, This species is plentiful in 

 Epping Forest during the spring months. Seyestria 

 senoculata Linn. Eyes in three pairs ; central 

 placed transversely, other pairs longitudinally, one 

 on each side of first pair, abdomen having a some- 

 what purplish appearance, with a longitudinal 



series of blackish diamond-shaped markings. An 

 interesting occurrence was noted in connection 

 with this spider in Science-Gossip, vol. vii. p. 219. 

 I have received a fine series of this species from 

 Mr. S. Rouse, to whom, with the gentlemen above 

 mentioned, I wish to accord my thanks for the 

 specimens received. — Frank P. Smith, l5Cloi(de$ley 

 Place, Lslinyton, London. 



A Spider Foray. — On September 14th the mem- 

 bers of the Battersea and Lambeth Field Clubs 

 visited Oxshott, the object of the excursion being 

 a spider foray. Nearly thirty members attended. 

 No difficulty was experienced in discovering several 

 interesting species of spiders. A small party of 

 enthusiasts visited the haunt of Atypus, and suc- 

 ceeded in obtaining several specimens, from one 



Atypus piceus. 



of which the accompanying drawing was made. 

 I have made this new drawing of Atypus from life, 

 as other sketches I have met with hardly show the 

 true position of the limbs ; having been apparently 

 sketched from dead specimens. Several interesting- 

 creatures were noticed, amongst others the local 

 Drapetisca socialis, which occurred in abundance 

 upon the pines. Its colour harmonises so com- 

 pletely with its surroundings as to conceal it to a 

 remarkable degree. Many of the beautiful goblet- 

 shaped egg-sacs of Agroeea were also found, of 

 which an unusually large percentage lacked the 

 protective covering of mud. — Franh P. Smith. 



Curious Rats' Nest. — The following is an 

 extract from a letter recently received from a corre- 

 spondent of mine in the Dutch West Indies : — " One 

 day when I went into the apology for a laboratory 

 which I have here, to make some assays, I found 

 on a shelf where some six or eight Winchester 

 quarts of acid had been placed, a nest of rats on 

 the tops of the bottles. The nest was composed of 

 torn paper, six or seven assay-flasks, about the 

 same number of annealing-pots, and twenty or 

 thirty small cupels. How they ever got these 

 things up there, I cannot conceive ; but they did."" 

 — J. O. Johnson, 23 Cross Street, London, E.C. 



