58 H. WOODWARD ON A BRITISH COAL-MEASURE SCORPION. 



form is considered by its describers to be near to the recent Ameri- 

 can species Buthus hirsutus from California, with which it accords 

 well in its general proportions ; but as neither the palpi nor the 

 last three segments of the body are preserved, we fully agree in the 

 conclusions of the learned authors as to the desirability of keeping 

 it distinct generically. 



The same locality in Illinois has yielded, in addition to many new 

 and interesting forms of Crustacea, a new genus of Myriopods, named 

 by Messrs. Meek and Worthen Eujphoberia, with two species E. ar- 

 migera and E. major, M. & W., two new Arachnides, named Mazonia 

 Woodiana,~$L. & W., and ArchitarbVfS rotundatus, Scudder, and eight 

 insects, determined by Mr. S. H. Scudder. 



In April 1874 I visited an experimental sinking for coal on the 

 estate of the Earl of Dartmouth at Sand well Park near Birmingham, 

 for the purpose of examining (on behalf of the British Museum) a 

 large series of fossil plants of great interest, from the " Red Rocks " 

 overlying the " Thick Coal." 



My attention was specially called to an obscure specimen (dis- 

 covered by Mr. Henry Johnson, C.E., the Secretary and Manager of 

 the Sand well-Park Colliery Co.) in black shale, which, to my surprise 

 and pleasure, proved on examination to be the remains of a fossil 

 Scorpion (PI. VIII. fig. 1). 



In November 1874 I received from Dr. D. R. Rankin, of Carluke, 

 a single segment (preserved in the round) of an Articulate from the 

 shale-beds of the upper limestone series of the Coal-measures near 

 Carluke, which I am unable to assign to any other group of Articu- 

 lata ; and I believe it to be an abdominal segment of a Scorpion 

 (figs. 5, 5 a, 56). 



In August last, Mr. Edward Wilson of Nottingham (a most 

 zealous and careful collector of geological specimens, and thoroughly 

 acquainted with the geology of the country around Nottingham) 

 forwarded me several specimens from the clay-ironstone nodules of 

 the Coal-measures, Skegby New Colliery, near Mansfield. Two of 

 these clay-ironstone nodules exhibit, now that they have been split 

 open — one, the body-segments of a fossil Scorpion (fig. 2) ; and the 

 other, one of its palpi (fig. 3). So interesting an addition to the 

 already numerous forms of Arthropoda from the English Coal- 

 measures deserves to be made known as widely as possible, that 

 those geologists who live near workable coal-beds where the clay- 

 ironstone nodules occur may be encouraged by these "finds" to 

 make use of their hammers and their eyes to furnish us with more 

 perfect remains of this ancient air-breather of the coal-period. 



As the specimens of Scorpion from the coal are at present very 

 imperfect, I will only point out that our Scorpion agrees best with 

 an Indian form which I cannot very well distinguish from Scorpio 

 afer ; but I prefer to adopt Messrs. Meek and Worthen's genus 

 Eoscorpius with the specific designation o f an c/licus for the fossil 

 form, and to await the discovery of more perfect remains before 

 venturing to define its characters more minutely. 



