322 OBSERVATIONS ON THE 
of his ‘Histoire Naturelle des Insectes Apteres,’ 
p. 407, has ascribed it to M. Dugés, whose observations 
on the subject, in the ‘Annales des Sciences Natu- 
relles,’ seconde série, t. vi., Zoologie, p. 166, were 
not published till 1836. 
Spiders usually have the groove which is situated 
on the inner surface of the basal joint of the falces, 
and receives the terminal joint, or fang, when in a 
state of repose, armed on each side, to a greater or 
less extent, with conical, pointed processes, which, 
by a figure of speech, are commonly denominated 
teeth; but that they are not the homologues of true 
teeth is rendered sufficiently evident by the fact that 
the falees do not constitute any part of the oral 
apparatus, being lethal instruments employed by the 
Araneidea in seizing, killing, and compressing their 
prey. 
Eminent arachnologists have stated that the spe- 
cies belonging to extensive divisions of the family 
Mygalde are entirely destitute of tooth-like processes _ 
on the basal joint of the falces; but the fallacy of this 
opinion may be easily detected by a careful inspection 
of specimens taken from the genus Mygale, the most 
typical division of the family. In confirmation of the 
fact that many of the J/ygalide are provided with a 
longitudinal row of tooth-like processes, situated be- 
tween two dense fringes of long, curved, red hairs on 
the inferior surface of the basal joint of their falces, 
various examples might be adduced ; but it will suffice 
