132 



HARDWICKE'S S C IENC E-GOS SIP. 



also used for food, will be the subject of another j 

 article. 



The Lentil, although not grown in England as 

 food for man, is largely cultivated in some parts of 

 the Continent for culinary purposes. The earliest 

 mention we have of them, is in the Bible, when 

 Esau sold his birthright to his brother Jacob for a 

 mess of lentil pottage. The Egyptians and Greeks 

 highly esteemed this vegetable, and their ancient 

 philosophers not only regaled themselves with 

 lentils, but took care to cook them themselves ; for 

 it was one of their proverbs, " That a wise man acts 

 always with reason, and prepares his lentils himself." 

 The Romans considered that the use of this pulse 

 produced heaviness to the mind, and rendered man 

 indo'ent and lazy ; for this reason, no doubt, as 

 Plutarch informs us, Marius Crassus, when waging 

 war against the Parthians, was convinced that his 

 army would be defeated because his corn was ex- 

 hausted, and his men obliged to have recourse to 

 leivils. 



Pliny nevertheless assures us that this food pro- 

 duces an uncommon virtue— evenness of temper. 

 The ancients used lentils to thicken pottage instead 

 of barley groats, for those who had weak stomachs. 

 The Roman physicians boiled them in vinegar to dis- 

 perse all hard tumours occasioned by scrofula, &c, 

 and as a cure for erysipelas they boiled them in 

 sea-water. Lentils appear to have been brought to 

 this country in 1518. Gerard says he had been 

 informed that they were sown in his time in Mid- 

 dlesex, and other places in England for cattle, in 

 the same manner as other tares. Coles, writing in 

 1G57, mentions that the inhabitants of Hampshire 

 called lentils Jills, and in Oxfordshire they were 

 known by the name of Dills in his time. Lentils 

 are cultivated in the South of Europe, the East, and 

 Egypt, where the seed forms a very important 

 article of food. Near the Cataracts of the Nile the 

 inhabitants make their bread entirely of lentils, 

 corn being very scarce in that part of the country. 

 Dr. Kitto tells us that he has often partaken of red 

 pottage, prepared by seething the lentils in water, 

 and then adding a little suet to give them a flavour ; 

 the mess, he adds, had a redness which gained for it 

 the name of Adorn (" Hist. Bib."). This pulse is 

 much used in Roman Catholic countries during 

 Lent, and it is said by some authors that thi s 

 season derives its name from this cause. The flower 

 of lentils is considered very wholesome, and Dr. 

 Playfair found it contained more nitrogenous"matter 

 than any of the leguminiferous plants; and as a 

 proof of its nutritious qualities the Hindoos always 

 have recourse to lentils in addition to their rice, 

 when engaged in laborious work. Those substances 

 which are sold under the name of Revelenta Arabic a 

 and Ervclenta Arabica are nothing else but the 

 flour of lentils {vide Hogg's " Veg. King."). 



HAMPDEN G. GLASSrOOLE. 



SPIDERS' WEBS AND SPINNERETS. 



BEFORE proceeding to the consideration of 

 the spinnerets of spiders of the genus Cinijlo, 

 and describing the methods for the preparation of 

 specimens, I will endeavour to answer the questions 

 that have been asked me concerning the webs of the 

 Epeirida, first, however, relating a few facts that 

 bear upon the subject. 



Fig. 87. Web of Ar^i/rnnfta aquatiea, showing method of 

 constructing the cocoon. («) first threads, (/>) second 

 threads, ('■; third threads. 



Fig. 88. Spinning-tubes from spinnerets of Epcira diadems, 

 (n) large spinning-tube, and (A) small spinning-tubes of 

 third spinneret ; (c) large spinning-tube, and (rf) small 

 spinning-tubes of first spinneret x 165 diams. 



I wish to draw more particular attention to the 

 idea that three is the normal number of varieties of 

 threads in a spider's web, each kind being produced 

 by its special pair of spinnerets. Further, seeing 

 that two of the threads differ only in size, I consider 

 that they are produced by the first and second pairs 

 of spinnerets, because the construction of these is 

 generally almost identical. The remaining thread, 

 which is often very peculiar, being therefore the pro- 

 duct of the third spinnerets, because this pair is 

 constructed on a plan different from that 'of the 

 other two. Since writing my former article I have 

 examined the webs of various genera of spiders. 

 In a TheridiorCs web the threads seem all alike ; in 

 a Linyphia's, Argyroneta's, and Agelena's, there are 

 but two kinds ; while in a Lycosa's, TegenaricCs, and 



