POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



4 2 3 



authors find that " the power of expression 

 through different attitudes and movements 

 is of great assistance in determining not 

 only how far the spider can see, but how 

 much it recognizes of what it sees or, in 

 other words, its power of distinct vision 

 since it acts in one way when it catches 

 sight of its prey, in another at the appear- 

 ance of a male of its own species, and in still 

 another when it sees a female. Dr. McCook 

 says ' their rapid and marked change of man- 

 ner when prey is sighted, the mode of ap- 

 proach, like the action of a cat creeping 

 upon a bird, the peculiar behavior displayed 

 when the final spring is made, are not to be 

 accounted for on any theory other than a 

 keen sense of sight."' Among many inci- 

 dents very much alike related by the authors 

 we cite the case in which eight gnats and 

 four small flies were put into a box contain- 

 ing one of the spiders. " They all settled 

 and became quiet. The spider, neglecting 

 several gnats and flies which were close to 

 him, fixed his eyes upon a gnat five inches 

 away, and, approaching it by short jerks 

 from in front, pounced upon it, holding it 

 tightly a moment and then letting it go. 

 One of its legs was broken. It fluttered off 

 to a distance of seven inches. After a mo- 

 ment the spider followed it and caught it 

 again, still paying no attention to several 

 nearer ones. This he repeated six times, 

 letting it go each time. He then began to 

 catch other gnats and flies at distances of 

 from one to four inches. He made in all 

 twenty-five captures, jumping always when 

 about an inch away. His actions were ex- 

 actly like those of a cat playing with a 

 mouse. It seems remarkable that he could 

 see clearly enough to follow the gnat which 

 he had at first singled out among a number 

 of others which were almost identical in ap- 

 pearance." Experiments on Attidce at their 

 mating season prove that spiders can see at 

 a considerable distance. A male was put 

 into a box containing a female of the same 

 species. The female was standing motion- 

 less twelve inches away, and three inches 

 and a half higher than the male. " He per- 

 ceived her at once, lifting his head with an 

 alert and excited expression, and went 

 bounding toward her. This he would not 

 have done if he had not recognized her as a 

 spider of his own species. When four inches 



and a half from her he began the regular 

 display of the species, which consists of a 

 peculiar dance. This he would not have 

 done had he not recognized her sex. A 

 male of this species on the floor of the box 

 caught sight of a motionless female on the 

 glass nine inches away and four inches and 

 a half above him. He raised his body al- 

 most vertically, and gazed alternately at her 

 and at a male which was five inches away 

 in another direction. At other times the 

 males recognized the females at eight, nine, 

 and eleven inches, and the females recog- 

 nized the males at six, seven, nine and a 

 half, and eleven inches." A spider can not 

 recognize its egg sac by sight, because in its 

 natural position it never sees it, and there- 

 fore does not know how it looks. Experi- 

 ments on the color sense of spiders were not 

 conclusive. 



British New Guinea. The colony now 

 called British New Guinea has been formally 

 annexed to the British Empire. The natives, 

 who probably number between 300,000 and 

 400,000, are described by Sir William Mac 

 gregor, administrator, as mostly of a rich, 

 dark bronze color, varying from a brown 

 that might be called black to a yellowish 

 brown. In temper they are cheerful, lively, 

 and full of fun, and are generally very con- 

 tented; not quarrelsome or violently pas- 

 sionate. Suicide is comparatively rare among 

 them ; when it does take place, it is, as a 

 rule, the outcome of affection, one of the 

 strongest and best characteristics of the race. 

 Occasionally a woman would climb a tall 

 cocoanut tree and kill herself by jumping 

 down, because she had become convinced 

 that she could never meet again among men 

 with a husband so good as the one she had 

 lost. This family affection is so strong as to 

 be often an impediment to the employment 

 of men away from their own districts. It is 

 not often that a man cares to remain longer 

 than one year in the constabulary, because 

 he is separated there from his family and 

 friends. The London Missionary Society 

 finds it difficult, for the same reason, to get 

 wives of native teachers to live in strange 

 villages. Yet the strong feeling of affection 

 that the Papuan has for his relatives and 

 neighbors does not prevent him from doing 

 to others what appear terribly cruel things. 



