1869.] Indian Arachnoidea. 203 



its use occasionally become dangerous, are the source of all this ill- 

 feeling which has been extended to the most useful animals. Harmless 

 they are certainly on the whole, and as regards usefulness scarcely 

 surpassed by any other class of animals. They wholly live on 

 insects and destroy a very large number of those which often 

 create great damage to either animal and vegetable life. Thus 

 they are important agents in sustaining a proper balance in' the 

 economy of nature, and their usefulness actually increases, by their 

 not being dangerous in such a way, as insects often are. 



These are, however, not the only reasons which entitle the Arach- 

 noidea to a fair share of attention on the part of every observer of 

 nature. Their instinct is often higher developed, than we find it in 

 insects. This instinct not only shews itself in the way in which they 

 obtain their living, but also in the art of weaving in which they may 

 be said to have been the teachers of man. Actually almost their 

 whole life is nothing but a carrying out of clever arrangements, 

 resulting from a certain amount of thought and deliberation. The 

 beauties of colour, the curiosities of form, &c. which they exhibit, are 

 equally remarkable and interesting. It is, therefore, only natural that 

 some of our oldest classic writers have expressed their admiration of the 

 works and the talent, exhibited by Arachnoids, in the most inspiring 

 language, and many a beautiful idea in the mythology of the Greeks 

 and Romans is interwoven with their manners and their mode of life. 



It is unnecessary for me to go here into those historical and other 

 accounts, to excite interest and attention to the study of the Arach- 

 noids,— they speak for themselves. At the same time, I believe, 

 I am justified in saying that there are very few branches of zoology, 

 which would reward the zeal of the student with greater success, as 

 regards new forms of animals, than the Arachnoids. Almost every- 

 thing that we see and observe about us is a novelty to science ; for 

 if it is not actually so as to mere form, it is pretty certain to be so as 

 to the real value in the study of geographical distribution, &c. 



Several years elapsed since that I began to collect materials for a 

 Monograph of the Indian Scorpionid^;, having in view to initiate 

 the study of the Arachnoids in this country by the description of a 

 group, the animals of which are more generally and better known than 

 common spiders. I found, however, that it would be probably many 



