ORDER TRAOHEARI/E. 
497 
small, in the form of a keel, and is terminated by two barbed 
threads, divergent, and placed each on a small articulation ; 
the other pairs of feet are annexed to as many segments. I 
have perceived a large stigma on each side of the body, be- 
tween the first and second feet, as well as a cleft at the base 
of the belly. The abdomen is ovaliform, and composed of 
nine rings. 
We suspect that the ancients have designated these aracli- 
nides under the names of Phalangium , Soli fug a, tctrag - 
natha,&L c. M. Poe has discovered a species in the environs 
of Havannah ; but the others are proper to the hot and sandy 
countries of the old continent. These animals run with ex- 
treme swiftness, throw up their head, and seem to wish to 
defend themselves, when they are attacked. They are reputed 
venomous. 
Chelifer, Geoff. Obisium, /%., 
Have the palpi elongated, in the form of arms, with pincers 
like a hand, and didactvlous at the end. All the feet are 
equal, terminated by two hooks, and the eyes placed on the 
sides of the thorax. 
These animals resemble little scorpions deprived of a tail. 
Their body is flatted, with the thorax almost square, and having- 
on each side one or two eyes. 
They run fast, and often backwards or sideways, like the 
crabs. Roesel has seen a female lay its eggs, and assemble 
them in a heap. Hermann, the father, says that these in- 
dividuals carry them collected in a cushion under their belly. 
He even thinks, according to another observation, that these 
arachnides can spin. 
His son {Mem. apterol.) divides this genus into two sections. 
Some ( Chelifer , Leach) have the first segment of the trunk or 
thorax, divided into two by an impressed and transverse line ; 
the tarsi with a single articulation ; a species of stylet at the 
von. xiii. k k 
