by which they are enabled to entangle these insects is a surprising part of the animal economy. For the purpose of forming this web, they are supplied with a quantity of glutinous matter contained in a receptacle near the extremity of their bodies; and, for spinning it into thread, they have five teats, the orifices of which the insects have the power of contracting and dilating at pleasure. When they enter on the construction of this curious fabric, they fix on a spot apparently calculated both for plunder and security. The animal then distils one little drop of glutinous liquor, which is very tenacious; and creeping along the wall, and joining its thread as it proceeds, it darts itself to the opposite side, where the other end is to be fastened. The first thread thus formed, being drawn tight and fixed at each end, the Spider runs on it backward and forward, still doubling and strengthening it, as on this depends the stability of the whole. The scaffolding thus completed, it makes a number of threads parallel to the first, and then crosses them with others: the clammy substance of which they are formed serves, when first made, to bind them to each other. At the bottom of the web a kind of funnel is constructed, in which the little creature lies concealed. In this den of destruction it watches with unremitted assiduity till its prey is entangled; when this is the case it instantly darts upon its victim and deprives it of life.

The webs of Spiders differ from those woven by any human artist in this circumstance: in our work, the threads extended in length are interlaced with those that are carried on transversely; whereas, the threads of a Spider's woof only cross the threads of the warp, and are glued to them in the points where they mutually touch, and are not either inserted or interwoven.

oval, of a brown colour, and marked with five black and almost contiguous spots. Linn.-L'Araignée do

SYNONYMS. Aranea domestica. mestique. Tigny.

The threads along the border of the work are doubled or trebled, by the Spider's opening all her teats at once, and gluing several threads one over another; sensible that the extremity of the web ought to be hemmed and fortified, in order to preserve it from being torn. She likewise further secures and supports it with strong loops, or double threads, which she fixes all around it, and which hinder it from being the sport of the winds.

From time to time she finds it necessary to clear away the dust, which would otherwise incommode her web, and she sweeps the whole by giving it a shake with her paw; but in doing this she so nicely proportions the force of the blow to the strength of the work, that nothing is ever broken.

From all parts of the web are drawn several threads, which terminate, like rays in a centre, at the place of her concealment. The vibration of any of these threads is communicated to her, and gives her notice whenever there is game in the net, and accordingly she springs upon it in an instant. She derives another advantage from this retreat under her web: she there feasts on her prey in full security. It also gives her the power of concealing the carcasses, and not leaving in the purlieus any traces of her barbarity, capable of intimating the place of her retreat, and inspiring other insects with a dread of approaching it.

This Spider is furnished with a pair of sharp hooked fangs, enclosed, when at rest, in cases in the fore-part of her head. With these weapons, (which a good glass will discover to have a small slit or orifice in each point,) she seizes and pierces such insects as entangle themselves in her web; and infuses a poisonous liquid into the wound. This poison must be very deleterious; for flies, and many other insects, may be mutilated by depriving them of their legs, wings, and even cutting their bodies through the very middle of the abdomen, and in that condition they will survive several days; but this liquid in a moment kills them.

When two Spiders of the same size meet in combat,

neither of them will yield: they hold each other by their fangs so fast, that, in general, one of the two must die before they are separated. M. Leeuwenhoek says he saw one Spider that was only wounded in the leg by his antagonist. A drop of blood, as large as a grain of sand, issued from the sore; and, not being able to use this wounded leg in running away from his enemy, he held it up, and presently afterwards the limb dropped off. When Spiders are wounded in the breast or upper parts of the body, they always die.

ture.

The Spider, the Ptinus, and many insects of the beetle kind, exhibit an instinct of very extraordinary naWhen put in terror by a touch of the finger, the Spider runs off with great swiftness; but if he find that, whatever direction he takes, he is opposed by another finger, he then seems to despair of being able to escape, contracts his limbs and body, lies motionless, and counterfeits every symptom of death. "In this situation," says Mr. Smellie, "I have pierced Spiders with pins, and torn them to pieces, without their indicating the slightest marks of pain. Some beetles, when counterfeiting death, will suffer themselves to be gradually roasted, without moving a single joint."

When the House-spider changes its skin, which it does at certain seasons, an opening may be seen in the belly. Through this it draws all its limbs, and leaves the old covering hanging to the cord that sustained it during the operation.

The eyes of all the Spiders are placed on the upper part of their head, but in various positions. These have no muscles, and are therefore immovable. They also consist of only one lens each, and do not, as in other insects, possess the faculty of multiplying objects: but their number and situation enable the animals to see perfectly well in all necessary directions.

THE GARDEN-SPIDER

The labour of the Garden-spider, is very different from that of the former species; yet it is not performed with less art. When desirous of flitting from one place to another, this animal fixes one end of a thread to the place where she stands, and then with her hind paws, draws out several other threads from the nipples, which being lengthened, and driven by the wind to some neighbouring tree, or other object, are, by their natural clamminess, fixed to it. As soon as the spider finds that these are fastened, she makes of them a bridge, on which she can pass and repass at pleasure. This done, she renders the thread thicker, by spinning others to it. From this thread she often descends, by spinning downward to the ground. The thread formed by the latter operation she fixes to some stone, plant, or other substance. She re-ascends to the first thread, and at a little distance from the second begins a third, which she fixes in a similar manner. She now strengthens all the three threads, and, beginning at one of the corners, weaves across, and at last forms a strong and durable net, in the centre of which she places herself, with her head downward, to wait for her prey.

From its having been frequently remarked that Spiders spread their webs in solitary and confined places, to which it is sometimes difficult for flies to penetrate, M. de Vaillant concluded that these creatures must often remain long without food, and that, consequently, they were capable of enduring considerable abstinence. To ascertain the truth of this circumstance, he took a

DESCRIPTION. The body of this Spider is brown and somewhat downy. On the thorax are four furrows, of which the two middle ones diverge towards the head. The abdomen, which is nearly spherical, has, from the middle to the extremity, three white lines. Latreille.-L'A

SYNONYMS. Aranea horticola. raignée jardinière, in France.

Olivier.

large Garden-spider, whose belly was about the size of a nut, enclosed it under a glass bell, which he secured with cement round its bottom, and left it in this situation for ten months. Notwithstanding this deprivation of food, the insect appeared during the whole time equally vigorous and alert; but its belly decreased, till at last it was scarcely larger than the head of a pin. He then put under the bell to it another Spider of the same species. For a little while they kept at a respectful distance from each other, and remained motionless; but presently the meagre one, pressed by hunger, approached and attacked the stranger. It returned several times to the charge; and, in these different conflicts, deprived the stranger of almost all its claws: these it carried away to its former situation, to devour. The meagre Spider had likewise lost three of its own claws, on which also it fed; and M. Le Vaillant perceived that, by this repast, its plumpness was in some degree restored. On the following day, the new comer, deprived of all its means of defence, fell a complete sacrifice. It was speedily devoured; and in less than twenty-four hours, the old inhabitant of the bell became as plump as it was at the first moment of its confine

ment.

From the bags in which the offspring of the Gardenspider are produced, an attempt has been made to mafacture a kind of silk. With some trouble, thirteen ounces of these bags were collected. They were for some time beaten with a stick, to free them from dust, and then washed in warm water till they were perfectly clean. After this they were steeped in a pot with soap, nitre, and gum arabic, and then boiled in the same mixture over a gentle fire for two or three hours. Clean warm water was again used to free them from the soap, &c.

c.; and, after having been laid for some days to dry, they were loosened with the fingers, previously to being carded by the common silk-carders. A beautiful ashcoloured silk was thus obtained, easy to be spun, and much stronger in the thread than that of the silkworm.