Annals of the Transvaal Museum 
5 
pairs of appendages, thorax with two tergites and two pairs of appen- 
dages, abdomen of u segments, the first of which is greatly reduced 
whilst the second or genital segment is largest. With regard to the 
thoracic tergites, I prefer Bernard’s view seeing that the bristly arma- 
ment of all four sclerites (the second excepted) in Blossia has much in 
common but differs from that of the head-plate : in short, they seem to 
be homologous structures. The two separated portions of the second 
tergite are certainly devoid of spines or bristles in Blossia, but a few 
setae occur near the anterior edge in Hemiblossia. It may be added 
Text fig. i. Dorsal and lateral views of the cephalothoracic region of a female 
Blossia sp. 
that the third tergite, though not divided, has its spines in two separated 
groups. 
For an ingenious hypothetical explanation of the composition of the 
head-plate, the reader is also referred to Mr Bernard’s paper. Here, 
I only mention this structure in order to direct attention to variations 
therein. Amongst the various S. African genera there are considerable 
differences in the shape of the head-plate, the proportions of which more- 
over may differ greatly in the two sexes of the same species, the female 
being more robust than the male. In most genera, the lateral portion, 
