Les Arachnides de France

Abstract

EXCEPTING two or three, either partial or abortive, attempts at the early part of the present century, by Baron Walckenäer, no effort has, until now, been made to supply a history of the spiders indigenous to France. This is the more remarkable, inasmuch as though Arachnology has but few votaries in any country, yet England, Sweden, Prussia, and even Italy, have furnished more or less complete works on their respective spider-faunas. Looking again at the geographical position of France, perhaps few other equal areas would give such a promise of rich results to the araneologist; with all the advantages of an insular position, France combines those of the general Continent of Europe; and her climate ranges from the sub-arctic, inhermountain regions, to the semi-tropical on the Mediterranean shores. We may confidently, therefore, expect a vast addition to our knowledge of European spiders from the labours of the industrious author who has stepped into the breach, and whose first volume on the Spiders of France stands at the head of this notice.

Les Arachnides de France.

Par Eugène Simon, Vice-Président de la Société Entomologique de France. Tome premier. (Paris, 1874.)