174 



SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



Mici'oneta saxatilis Bl. (Neriene saxalilis 

 + N. rttstica + N. campbellii in ' ' Spiders of 

 Dorset.") 



Lengtli. Male 2 mm. 



Cephalo-thorax brown. Abdomen nearly black. 

 The radial joint is of characteristic form and is 

 figured. I have received specimens of this rare 

 spider from Mr. W. Falconer, of Slaithwaite, Hud- 

 dersfield. 



GENUS SINTULA SIMON. 



This genus is closely allied to Microneta, but the 

 fakes of the male are neither greatly attenuated nor 

 divergent, these organs being similar in both sexes. 



Sintula eornigera Bl. (Nericnc cornigera in 

 " Spiders of Dorset.") 



Length. Male 2 mm. 



Digital joint of male palpus with a long, conical, 

 horn-like process near its base. Very rare. 



Sintula diluta (Neriene diluta + N. demissa 

 in "Spiders of Dorset"; Leptyphantes pluiiiigcr 

 F.O.P.C.) 



Length. Male 1.3 mm., female 1.5 mm. 



Cephalo-thorax yellow. Legs dark reddish-yelkiw. 

 Abdomen olive brown, speckled with yellow. The 

 epigynum of the female is furnished with a very long 

 slender process pointing backwards. It must not be 

 confounded with Bathyphantes concolor, which will be 

 described later. The falciform process of the male 

 is illustrated. Not common. 



Sintula nigrotibialis Cb. 



Length. Female 1.6 mm., male unknown. 



The tibae, especially of the first and second legs, 

 are suffused with black. The vulva is figured. \txy 

 rare. 



Sintula pronainens Cb. 



Length. Female 1.4 mm., male unknown. 



Cephalo-thorax yellowish-brown, with a rather 

 wide black margin and some blackish converging 

 lines. Legs pale yellow, femoral joints darker. 

 Abdomen black. The vulva is figured, ^'ery rare. 



Sintula aeria Cb. [Linyphia a'cna in " Spiders 

 of Dorset.") 



Length. Male 2 mm., female 2.2 mm. 



Similar in colour to S. proinincns Cb. The falci- 

 form process is figured. 



Sintula oblivia Cb. [Linyphia ohlivia in 

 " Spiders of Dorset.") 



Length.' Male 1.6 mm. 



Cephalo-thorax yellowish-brown, with dark mar- 

 ginal and converging markings. A large black 

 brown patch at hinder part of caput. Legs brownish- 

 yellow. Abdomen glossy black, ^'ery rare. 



Sintula morxila Cb. {Neriene vwnda in 

 " Spiders of Dorset. ") 



Length. Male 2 mm. , female larger. 



The radial joint is furnished at its fore part with a 

 tapering, slightly curved apophysis, whose length is 

 nearly equal to that of the joint itself, ^"ery rare. 



Sintula frederiei Cb. (Linyphia frederici in 

 " Spiders of Dorset.") 



Length. Male 1.3 mm. 



Cephalo-thorax yellow Inown, with dark marginal 

 and converging lines. Legs dull yellow. Abdomen 

 black, freckled with yellow. Extremel)- rare. 



Sintula fausta Cb. 



Length. Male 1.6 mm. 



Easily distinguished by the form of the radial joint, 

 which is figured. 



Sintula pholcommoides (Linyphia phokorn- 

 inoides -f Neriene pholcommoides in " Spiders of 

 Dorset "). 



Length. Male 1.3 mm. 



The eyes are grouped somewhat as in Pholcomma, 

 hence the name. A very rare species. 



Sintula neseia Cb. 



Length. Female 2.75 mm. 



Cephalo-thorax pale orange. Legs orange, paler 

 at the articulations of the joints. Abdomen black. 

 The vulva is figured. An extremely rare spider. 



Sintula pygmaea Cb. (N'eriene pyguiaea in 

 " Proc. Dorset Field Club," vol. xiv. p. 155. Not 

 N. pygmaea in " Spiders of Dorset.") 



This rare species is described loc. eit. 



( To be eontitmed. ) 



Suggested CuEis for Cancer.- It having 

 been observed in America and eLsew here, that in 

 those regions where malarial disease is prevalent' 

 cases of cancer are almost, if not actuallj', un- 

 known, a suggestion has been made to inject iirto 

 the veins of cancer patients some of the blood of 

 human beings affected by malaria. This, we under- 

 stand, is to be tried as a cure and i^re-ientive for 

 cancer. 



DiFFEEEKT SYSTEMS OF LIGHTING. — M. Lauriol, 



in a review upon this subject, shows the relative 

 cost of the different methods of lighting- in common 

 use. He maintains that incandescent light using 

 coal gas costs nearly twice as much as incan- 

 descence by acetylene ; but that the high price of 

 calcium carbide brings the cost of acetylene gas 

 by itself to a much higher figure than that of the 

 incandescent coal gas. He points out the different 

 methods employed in the production of water gas, 

 which is obtained by passing steam over red-hot 

 carbon. In England petroleum vapour is often 

 mixed with water gas. A practical mixture is thus 

 obtained comparable with ordinary gas from three 

 points of view — lighting, heating, and motive 

 piower. Heating by electricity amounts to about 

 six times the cost of coal gas. It must, however, 

 be remembered that in heating by ordinary gas at 

 least one-half the heat is lost in the chimney ; so 

 that if gas heat could be completely utilised it 

 would only cost one-twelfth that of electric heat. 

 — ^Y. H. Cachimn, Silverdale House, Sih-crclale, 

 Staffordsh ire. 



