41 
II. 
A Contribution towards the Knowledge of the Arachnida 
of Epping Forest. 
By the Rev. 0. Pickard-Cambridge, M.A., C.M.Z.S., &c. 
[Read February 24th, 1883.] 
Epping Forest, so renowned in the annals of Entomology, 
has been to me, until the past summer (1882), terra incognita. 
It had long been my wish to have a run in that celebrated 
locality ; it was therefore with much pleasure in the antici¬ 
pation that I found myself, on the evening of the 8th of June, 
1882, in company with Mr. F. M. Campbell, of Hoddesdon, 
under the hospitable roof of our kind friend, Mr. A. D. 
Michael, at Theydon-Bois, intent upon a spider-hunt fixed 
for the following day. On the next morning, after a pro¬ 
longed and most interesting visit to Mrs. Michael’s “ nursery ” 
(in which were domiciled some thousands of the minutest 
Acarids—Oribatidse—all separately housed, tended, fed, and 
their life-histories in process of patient and painful working 
out), we dived at once into our collecting-ground. The 
Forest here is a wild district of hornbeam, pollards, and 
underwood, interspersed with old gravel-pits and open spaces 
of rough herbage and heather, forming a working-ground 
well calculated to raise hopes of good captures. The sun 
shone out at first, and boxes and bottles were soon in frequent 
requisition ; but by noon clouds began to gather, and the rest 
of the day was a succession of heavy thunderstorms, com¬ 
pletely putting an end to “collecting” of any kind. The 
success, however, that we met with during the short time 
available impressed me with a strong conviction that the 
Forest only needs working to produce a long list of Arachnids, 
including probably many rarities, and possibly some new 
forms. All the species contained in the following list were 
found on that morning, excepting four —Marpessa mnscosa, 
