20 



strongly against the fingers, the jerk follows, and the imprisoned 

 leg alone remains in your possession. 



DRASSUS PUBESCENS. 



Djrassus ruuESCENS, ThorclL, Eeo. Crit. Aran., p. 110. 



n „ Cambr., Trans. Linn. Soc. xxviii, p. 439, 



and Ann. and Mag. N. II., Ser. 5, I., p. 111. 



A much smaller spider than Drassus lapidicolens, hut bearing a 

 very close genoral rosemhlance to it. It may, however, he dis- 

 tinguished, not only by its size, but by the smaller falcos, and by 

 the different structure of the palpi and palpal organs ; the 

 radial joint of tho palpus (in tho male) is, in D. lapidicolens, much 

 longer than the cubital, while in the prosont species it is little, if 

 anything, longer ; the digital joint is also shorter in D.puhscens, 



Tholongthof tho male is 3 J lines, tho femalo being rather 

 larger. 



I have met with this very rare spider on two occasions only ; 

 once, sovoral years ago, an adult malo under a stone on lilox worth 

 Heath; and again daring the past summer (June lGth, 1877) 

 whon I found anothor male, together with a female, under the 

 dry crust formed on tho heath in depressed places where turf had 

 been cut and the water had ovaporated, leaving a crust of 

 vegetable matter and sand. This crust prevents tho sun from 

 parching the soil beneath it, and affords a cool shelter for many 

 rare hoath spiders, to search for which among the heather itsolf 

 would bo an almost hopeless task. 



DRASSUS CIUMINALIS. 



Dkassus ciuiriNALis, Cambr., Ann. and Mag. N. II. S. 4, Vol. 

 16, p. 224, pi. viii., fig. 3. 

 Ati adult female of this spider measured very nearly 3J lines 

 in length. It is an obscure, but yet quite a distinct species. The 

 whole of the fore part is bright yellow-brown, the cephalo-thorax 

 bordered by a black lino ; and the abdomen is of a uniform dull 

 mouse-coloured black, with some very indistinct, pale linear 



