BRITISH SPIDERS AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION 

1

THE COMITY OF SPIDERS 

I. BRITISH SPIDERS AND THEIR 

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION 

The first book on British spiders appeared in 1678. In this slim 

volume Martin Lister distinguished between 34 kinds. Eleazar Albin 

followed in 1736, and then the great John Blackwall, whose two 

magnificent volumes were published by the Ray Society in 1861 and 

1864. His work completed, and the list of British species increased to 

304, Blackwall retired, but for the next fifty years our knowledge was 

enriched by the extensive researches of the Rev. O. Pickard 

Cambridge. Cambridge's book (1879 81) contained descriptions of 

518 species, and the list of British species which he published in 1900 

comprised 532 species. His is the last book to deal with all British 

spiders, and his the last list of British spiders to be published. 

Towards the latter part of Cambridge's long reign a new generation 

of systematists arose, all of whom owed much to his inspiration and 

willing assistance. Outstanding amongst these were his nephew, F. O. 

Pickard Cambridge, Professor G. H. Carpenter, W. Falconer, F. P. 

Smith, the Rev. J. E. Hull, and Dr. A. R. Jackson, on the last of whom 

his mantle now rests. Each of these has added to the list of species 

now known to inhabit our islands, which now totals 556 species. 

Towards the close of the last century the preparation 4 county lists 

began, and this still continues in spite of the recent tendency for these 

to be displaced by lists of