In the Theraphosae the coxa resembles that of the ambulatory leg, but in other spiders it is furnished, on the inner side, with a blade-like projection, the “maxilla” (Fig. 178). The shape of the maxillae and the degree of their inclination towards the labium are of considerable taxonomic importance. The inner border of the maxilla is furnished with a tuft of hairs, which assist in retaining the juices expressed by the chelicerae, and its anterior border presents a cutting edge with a finely dentated ridge called the “serrula.” In the female, and in the immature male, the remaining joints differ little from those of the legs, except that the tarsal joint is either clawless or has a single claw, which is generally smooth, and is never much dentated. At the last moult but one the male pedipalp appears tumid at the end, and after the last moult the tarsus is seen to have developed a remarkable copulatory apparatus, the “palpal organ,” comparatively simple in some families, but in others presenting an extraordinary complexity of structure. [Illustration: FIG. 179.—Diagram of palpal organ. 1, Tarsus; 2, bulb; 3, receptaculum seminis; 4, its aperture; 5, style; 6, haematodocha; 7, alveolus; 8, tibia. ] =Palpal Organs.=—Externally the essential parts of the palpal organ are three, the “haematodocha,” the “bulb,” and the “style.” The spines and projections, or “apophyses,” which often accompany the palpal organ proper, are of secondary importance, and in many spiders are entirely absent; nor is their function when present at all clear; but the infinite variety of design which they exhibit, and their singular uniformity in all the males of a species, render them of the utmost value as specific characteristics. The “haematodocha” is the portion of the palpal organ attached to the tarsus, and often received into an excavation, the “alveolus,” on its under surface. It is a fibro-elastic bag, in its normal collapsed state usually somewhat spirally disposed round the base of the following portion, the “bulb.”