398 MESSRS. BALDWIN AND STJTCLIFPE ON [Nov. I904, 



on stone. The pre-abdomen is shorter and narrower, while the 

 segments of the post-abdomen are each respectively shorter. 



It is npon the length and breadth of the hand that we rely 

 principally for distinction, and this, too, we find to be slightly less 

 than that of Eobuthus ralcovnicensis, which measures 19 mm. by 5. 

 The hand also is sufficient to distinguish it from Eoscorpius anglicus, 

 Woodward, 1 E. glaber, or E. euglyptusr It is longer than that of 

 E\ glaber, and shorter than that of E. eugtyptus, but is of almost 

 the same length as E. anglicus, although it differs in shape from any 

 of them. The remaining joint of the second appendage is devoid of 

 tubercles, and differs in this respect from the corresponding joint 

 of E. glaber or E. euglyptus. 



The sculpture on the pre-abdominal segments of E. carbonarius 3 

 and E. tuberculatus 4 at once distinguishes them from this specimen. 



What is preserved of the carapace is sufficient also to distinguish 

 it immediately from E. injlatusS 



Taken generally, the present specimen differs from all previously- 

 described Carboniferous species in possessing a more graceful form 

 and proportion. 



At the suggestion of our colleague, Mr. W. A. Parker, of Rochdale 

 ( who has devoted over 20 years to a study of the geology of the 

 district, and has very kindly brought the specimen before the writers' 

 notice), we have named the specimen Eoscorpius sparthensis, 

 the specific name being suggested by the place of its disinterment. 



IV. Geological Bearing of the Discovery. 



In the eyes of geologists such a discovery has a special interest, 

 because it not only gives some slight indication of the zoological and 

 climatic conditions of this Palaeozoic land, but serves to mark roughly 

 the probable position of an old land-surface, since this scorpion is 

 too well preserved to have been borne far from its original habitat. 

 Dr. B. N. Peach. F.R.S., G writes :— 



' It may be that, as recent scorpions feed extensively on the eggs of various 

 invertebrates, the Silurian species also visited the shores for the eggs of animals 

 left bare by the tides, among which . . . the eggs of . . . the Eurypterids (if 

 the latter had the habits of their near relation, the recent king-crab) would form 

 a bonne bouche. If this suggestion should prove to be well founded, we 

 may suppose that it was this habit of frequenting the shores that led the present 

 specimens to be embedded in marine strata.' 



The association of Eoscotpius with the king-crabs in the beds at 

 Sparth Bottoms appears to prove that Dr. Peach's suggestion is 

 well founded, and that the Carboniferous scorpions, like the recent 

 ones, fed extensively on the eggs of various invertebrates. 



1 H. Woodward. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxxii (187(5) p- 58 & pi. viii. 



: B. N. Peach, Trans. Eoy. Soc. Edin. vol. xxx (1882) pp. 400-402. 



3 Meek & Worthen, Geol. Surv. Illinois, vol. iii (1808) pp. 560-62. 



1 B. N. Peach, Trans. Eoy. Soc. Edin. vol. xxx (1882) p. 308. 



' Ibid. p. 405. 



' Ancient Air-breathers,' in ' Nature ' vol. xxxi (1885) p. 298. 



