Page:The Eurypterida of New York Volume 1.pdf/400

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392
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM

inferences as to the character of the dorsal and ventral sides can be drawn from its present position.

Appendages. The appendages present the greatest difficulties to a correct interpretation on account of their unfavorable preservation arid small size. We find, accordingly, wide differences in the views held by the authors concerning them.

One of the two chelicerae has been pushed forward and is seen in front of the carapace. Its distal portion is preserved only as an impression and but a portion of one finger is noticeable. The proximal portion of the powerful second joint is preserved as a flattened tubular body, distinctly broken off in front. Fritsch has interpreted this part as the manducatory lamella of the coxa (Kauglied), and states that it shows a short curved claw at the anterior margin. Inspection of the specimen, however, shows readily that the hand of the chelicera is the direct continuation of this proximal part, and that the latter lies upon the coxa of the pedipalp. The short claws are not visible in the specimen and Fritsch's representation is apparently due to shadows produced by irregular depressions between the lost anterior and the preserved posterior portions of the chelicera.

The greatest difficulty is presented by the legs, since these appendages are piled together in one place and badly torn. They have therefore been very differently interpreted and caused much of the controversy about this scorpion. The second joint of the left pedipalp (trochanter) is seen as an impression at the left of the base of the chelicera, which it underlies. The third joint (humerus or femur) stands, as in other scorpions, at right angles to the trochanter and partly underlies the left side of the carapace. It is broader and longer than represented by both Whitfield and Fritsch. It is partly broken off where one of the walking legs underlies it. Whitfield [op. cit. pl. 20, fig. 1, 3] represents this joint as directly connected with the chela or hand of a pedipalp seen in the specimen, by a short fourth joint (brachium or tibia), but Fritsch sees in this connecting broken film "a triangular sternum on which one discerns no further details," and "two oval opercular plates," adding that