is 



found, Proathesima and Drassus are scarcely distinguishable ; 

 tho former is, if anything, of a rather flatter form, and more 

 pointed at tho fore extremity of the caput. Nearly all the species 

 are either jet black or of a uniform deep brown colour. One 

 only of those found in Britain has a reddish cephalo-thorax, 

 all the rest are black. 



Four species are recorded as British, throe of them being met 

 with in Dorsetshire. 



PROSTHESIMA PEDESTBIS. 



Melanophora PEDE8THI8, C. L. Koch, Die Arachn. Bd. vi., p. 



82, pi. 200, fig. 489. 



Drassus pedestris, C. L. Koch, Cambr. Zoologist, 1861, 



p. 7558. 



This spider is almost wholly jet black. The abdomen has a 



somewhat shiny and smooth appearance, and is clothed 



with very short hairs ; the legs have the tarsi, metatarsi, tibise, 



and genua of a reddish yellow-brown, the femora being black. 



Tho length of the male is rather more than 3£ lines, and the 

 female is somewhat larger. 



Found underneath stones at Portland in July, 1860; more 

 recently I have received it from the neighbourhood of Exeter ; 

 and it has also been found in Guernsey. 



PROSTHESIMA PETIVERII. 

 Aranea pettverii, Scopoli, Ent. Cam., p. 398. 



Dbas8US ater, Blackw., Spid., Great Brit, and Irel., p. 106 pi. 

 vi., fig. 63. 

 Very nearly allied to the foregoing, and also of an almost 

 uniform black colour, but easily distinguished by its duller hue 

 and a much more hirsute appearance, being clothed with longer 

 and coarser hairs. The legs and palpi of the male are also stronger, 

 and the digital j oint and palpal organs much larger. It is found in 

 similar situations, being abundant in Portland under stones and 



