5022 Linnean Society, 



extremity : this extremity is attached to a bundle of silky hairs interlaced with fibres 

 of plants, Thus the bottom of the tube is protected from the humidity of the earth." 

 — Walckenaer, op. cit. i. 244. 



" It appears that the male of this species is much more common in France than 

 the female ; he is erratic in his habits, and hides under stones. T cannot find that he 

 has ever been found in company with the female, or in a subterranean gallery ; and I 

 may add, as a collateral fact, that the males of our commonest spiders seem to differ 

 considerably from the females in their mode of life ; they are far less voracious, and 

 those of the geometricians rarely construct the well-known webs. I will now cite Mr. 

 Brown's observations on Atypus, in his own words: —'When on a visit to Hastings 

 during the past autumn, having to pass through a lane, with a high and steep sand- 

 bank on each side partially covered with grass and bushes, I noticed, on one of the 

 banks which had a south aspect, something hanging down which looked like the 

 cocoon of some moth ; but found, on compressing it slightly, that it was quite empty : 

 it then occurred to me that it might be the nest of a spider ; and, on examining it 

 more closely, I found, to my surprise, that it descended into the bank, and appeared 

 firmly attached at the distal extremity; so firmly indeed, that I could not extract the 

 first I found without breaking it. My curiosity, however, was now thoroughly 

 awakened, and on finding a second example, I went more cautiously to work, removed 

 the sand carefully with a long knife, and at a depth of nine inches, I found the extre- 

 mity of the structure and drew it out quite perfect. It was a long silken sac, and at 

 the bottom was a hardish lump, which proved to be a spider. The next I tried went 

 much deeper, indeed so deep that I failed, after much trouble, in getting it out at all. 

 I tried many others, sometimes succeeding and sometimes failing in my attempts to 

 get them out entire. I found them vary greatly in length, and think they may 

 be lengthened at various periods of the spider's growth : in some of the nests there 

 seemed very obvious indications of this lengthening : the usual length was about nine 

 inches, but some were very much longer. Their form is tubular, commonly of a uni- 

 form diameter of three quarters of an inch, and rounded at one end in the form of a 

 purse : they are composed of very fine silk closely woven throughout, white or whitish 

 within, and covered exteriorly with yellowish or brownish particles of sand, which 

 give the tube a dirty appearance exteriorly, but inside they are always neat and 

 clean. The exterior portion of this tube visible on the bank is about two inches 

 in length, pendant, and always inflated ; it is of a darker colour than the sub- 

 terranean portion of the tube, and agrees in this respect with the general surface 

 of the bank. I took home one of these tubes in a collapsed state, or with the 

 sides pressed together, and having the spider at the extremity : on opening the box I 

 perceived a movement throughout the tube, as if it were undergoing the process of in- 

 flation : this soon subsided : the next morning, however, I was surprised to see the 

 tube inflated throughout its entire length, more especially at that end which had been 

 exposed on the bank. How can the spider effect this ? In some of the tubes it is 

 very difficult to discover any external aperture; but, in that portion which is exposed 

 and is distended more than the rest, I sometimes discovered one or more minute 

 openings, protected or covered by a little valve or door : in some nests these openings 

 are not to be detected ; when present, they open towards the bank. Although very 

 loosely constructed at the lower extremity, I do not think there is an opening there, 

 except when the spider is deepening her burrow, or I think, in some instances, the 



