584 : A new Trap-door Spider. (July, 
of the untrodden land” which is the abode of these interesting 
creatures, and it is with a sense of pleasure that I note them. 
Some time in the latter part of May or early part of June, 1835, 
Mr. Merritt, of Pittsborough, N. C., brought to Chapel Hill two 
trap-door spiders with their nests, and placed them in the care of 
Professor Holmes for the University of North Carolina. The 
nests with their occupants were placed in the ground for the 
summer. On Nov. 12, after a careful search, Professor Holmes 
=| was able to find only one, and this one with difficulty, as for some 
reason it had dug through the lower end of the tube and was 
hidden in the earth. Later I shall offer what seems to me may 
be an explanation of this. On the morning of the same day the 
spider with its trap-door nest was placed in my keeping, which 
a was the first intimation I had of the presence of such an agree- 
mS able neighbor. 
3 At 4.30 p.m. I placed three and a-half inches of earth ina glass 
hy jar five inches in diameter and seven inches deep. Two-thirds of 
the surface of the soil was then covered with moss. In this the 
af spider was placed, and the jar and its contents taken to er 
: room, that I might, if possible, observe the operation of digging 
l the tube and making the trap-door. 
The results were most gratifying. Just before going to supper, 
at dusk, I observed that the spider had not undertaken the work. 
aes -Upon returning, at 8.30 P.M., I found the task undertaken. The 
bye spider was resting in a hole about 20" deep by 22™ in diame- 
ter, which she had excavated at one side of the jar. I placed the 
jar upon my study table, just beneath the light of a student lamp, 
so that while reading I could observe any movements made by my 
companion. The spider was resting in the hole with its legs pat 
tially folded, the anterior ones lying upon the edge of the exc 
vation. 
After I had been quiet for some time the spider began to wget 
cautiously, and turning about slowly went head first into d : 
oe hole, and dug from the bottom with her mandibles a eee . 
_ earth about the size of a small pea. Then turning care A 
` Around she placed it at the edge of the hole, where she Pu® 
: it off with the aid of her palpi, at the same time wor” 4 
her mandibles up and down. At first the spider seemed t! oe 
__and would cease operations upon tlie slightest movement a d 
_ part of myself. During the course of the evening three to 
