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Show 1889.] REV. O. P. CAMBRIDGE ON NEW ARANEIDEA. 35 this Society by Dr. Gunther (P. Z. S. 1887, p. 40), from the Rev. Nendick Abraham, of Grahamstown, on what Dr. Giinther supposed to be the same species as that described from Uitenhage. Wishing, . however, to be assured of this, I wrote to Mr. Abraham asking him to send me, if he could procure them, examples of the species to which his note referred. This Mr. A. has very kindly and promptly done, sending me several nests with the spiders belonging .to them. Among these I have found two examples of Moggridgea dyeri, and two others of quite a different, though allied species, to which I have given below the name of M. abrahami after its very painstaking discoverer. One of the spiders described here is remarkable, not only for its minuteness, being no more than half a line in length, but for the peculiar character of its cephalothorax, in which the ordinary indented lines showing the junction of the caput and thorax are replaced by two deep oblique converging fissures, necessitating, along with other characters, the formation of a new genus in the family Theridiidce for its reception. This specimen has been in my possession for many years past, but had until lately been overlooked owing to its having been accidentally concealed among the hairs on one of the legs of a large spider received in 1864 from the Swan River. Other particulars respecting the spiders described below will be found appended to their scientific description. With that of one of them I have incorporated a long, but very interesting account of the nest of the spider Idiops colletti, which was sent to me from Burmah by General Collett, through the kindness of Mr. George King, of the Botanic Gardens, Calcutta. This is, so far as I know, the first detailed account of the nest of a spider of this group, though I had myself many years ago found one species of it near Beirut in a trapdoor nest, which was, however, unfortunately destroyed on the way home, before any note could be taken of its nature and peculiarities. Order ARANEIDEA. Family THERAPHOSID^E. Genus PACHYLOMERUS, AUSS. PACHYLOMERUS NATALENSIS, sp. n. (Plate II. fig. 1.) Adult female. Length 1 inch 5 lines, length of cephalothorax 6| lines, breadth at the widest part 6 lines. Cephalothorax a little longer than broad, the fore extremity wider than the posterior, the widest part is across the middle. The caput is large, rounded and convex above, the occiput sloping in a gradual curve to the thoracic indentation, which is large, deep, semilunar, with the convexity of its curve directed backwards, and situated exactly one third of the length from the hinder extremity of the cephalothorax. The cephalothorax is smooth, glossy, and of a rich reddish chocolate-brown colour, rather paler at the hinder extremity and in the ocular region. The eyes are rather small and form a transverse oblong area, the 3* |