been curated with painstaking care by 

 successive heads of the Arachnida Sec- 

 tion, and in accordance with the terms of 

 the gift it has been maintained as a dis- 

 crete entity. However, although the need 

 has long been recognized, the Museum has 

 been unable to prepare a catalogue for 

 publication., Thus, it was particularly 

 pleasing to be able to welcome J. Ec 

 Keirans of the Rocky Mountain Labora- 

 tories, Hamilton, Monte, an authority of 

 international standing on the Metastig- 

 mata, as a visiting scientist to the 

 Arachnida Section, and to provide him 

 with the facilities for a 12-month study 

 of the Nuttall collection with a view to 

 producing a critical catalogue. He has 

 completed the task with notable suc- 



cess. Tick workers everywhere will be 

 greatly indebted to him, and, having 

 been directly responsible for the 

 curation of the Nuttall collection for 

 several years, I feel privileged to have 

 been invited to contribute the foreword 

 to this important work. 



Jo G. Sheals 

 Keeper of Zoology 

 British Museum 

 (Natural History) 



> 



IV 



