ee eee eee ee ee ee ee ee es a ee ee re ee - _ —_— 
" ‘ 
ANATOMICAL NOMENCLATURE. 127 
nearly circular. This part of the scapus I have termed the cochlear or 
spoon (ech, Fig, 95). I believe that the scapus serves as an ovipositor, to 
assist in the direction and arrangement of the eggs as they are extruded. 
It has occurred to me to 
inquire whether there 
exists any relation be- 
tween the peculiar shape 
of the scapus and the 
character of the cocoon 
laid by the female, es- 
pecially in the position 
and arrangement of the weet, ne 
eggs ; but I have reach- Views OF EPIGYNUM AND Parts. 
ed no generalization on Kia, 9. Lower part, that is, the part next the ground when the spider is 
- z walking ; at, atriolum ; sep, scapus; ech, the cochlear or spoon of the 
this point. It is prob- scapus; po, portule; ge, genital cleft. Fic. 96. Side view, to show the 
able that this organ gl_- arm or buckler; other references as above. 
so aids to clasp and direct the palpus of the male, or at least to regulate 
the flow of the sperm, in the act of fertilization. 
In some species, as Epeira labyrinthea, Fig. 96, there is thrown up a 
sort of wall in front of the scapus and on the anterior margin of the genital 
cleft, which I have termed the parmula, or simply the parm or buckler 
(par, Fig. 96). In some species at least, as in Fig. 96, there appears a 
groove or channel in the median part, indicating that this may also aid in 
directing the eggs during extrusion, or again in 
guiding the inflow of the sperm. 
* Underneath the vulval porch are (usually) 
two concave openings or little gates, portule 
spermathecse (po), which receive the sperm from 
the male palp, whence it flows from 
See each portula through a duct, aditus 
fred gr spermathece (ad.sp), sometimes simple, 
sometimes much convoluted, into the 
spermathecse (s.th). Thence another smaller 
duct, the oviduct (ovd), admits the sperm to the 
Mig. 97. View of epigynum in connection ©3888 (ov). The ee ase Hassan gh aati aD 
‘with ovaries (partly diagrammatic); the portule, by which the eggs are discharged 
he dhe ncaa i? Site When cocooning. The epigynum is subject to 
spermathecw, sperm duct; s.th, sper- Immense variations in form, and these varia- 
mathecw ; ov, the eggs; ovd, oviduct. tions are nearly constant for every species; 
hence they are good specific characters. I have not been able to find in 
them any fixed generic value, although there is often a noticeable tend- 
ency to a general likeness of form in any closely related group of species.? 
1T hesitate somewhat to propose the above anatomical terms, as the field is one which 
I have not specially cultivated. 
