HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



183 



folio in search of specimens, &c., I came suddenly 

 upon a small recess, or opening in the forest. It 

 was clothed in long waving grass ; through the 

 adjacent lofty branches, a burst of sunshine had 

 stolen in upon its centre, forming a glorious con- 

 trast to the surrounding shade. 



"Two trees stood apart from the trees of the 

 forest, near the centre of the grassy recess, and 

 were conspicuous for the light colour of their 

 stems, which was evidently produced by the pre- 

 sence of a minute species of moss or lichen, similar 

 to that which whitens rocks in high localities or 

 mountainous regions. Suspended between the 

 stems of the trees, was the light transparent net 

 of a wood spider. I could scarcely distinguish its 

 slender meshes in the bright sunshine ; the spider 

 was upon it at the time, busy with some repairs, 

 or probably its presence would not have been sus- 

 pected. It was one of those peculiarly formed 

 species, which invariably excite our wonder and 

 surprise, having a long process or horn projecting 

 from the centre of the body, which to a casual 

 observer would have appeared an incumbrance of 

 no ordinary magnitude. At ,my approach the little 

 creature seemed somewhat startled, so off" it trotted 

 and seated itself upon its hiding-place, the bare stem 

 of the tree, where I soon perceived that its resem- 

 blance to a spider or anything that had life was no 

 longer evident ; for as it sat motionless, with the 

 long projection from the centre, and its legs care- 

 fully folded beneath its body, it was a fac-simile of 

 the knots of wood or pro tiibe ranees upon the bark 

 of the trees which it inhabited, — the long horn re- 

 sembling the remains of a former twig or branchlet 

 which had died or fallen away, leaving only its foot- 

 stalk to show where once it had been. 



" The colouring and pattern upon the spider, in 

 every particular, resembled that of the moss-clad 

 stems of the trees; upon its legs when folded was 

 a minute round patch of white, surrounded by 

 brown, similar to the smaller patches of lichens which 

 dotted the bark ; in fact the imitation was perfect, — 

 a small knot of wood with the remains of a broken 

 twig upon it. For some time, I stood near, admir- 

 ing the beauty and simplicity of the contrivance. 

 At length, to try the spider's faith in its conceal- 

 ment, I waved my hand ominously near, almost 

 brusliiug it from off the stem where it sat. The 

 spider, however, strong in the belief of its security, 

 was not the least alarmed, but remained immovable. 



" After leaving the forest and its quiet occupants 

 the idea occurred to me that perhaps the lichens 

 that iu a great measure covered the stems of the 

 trees grew also upon the back of the spider, as 

 barnacles do upon the creatures of the sea. This, 

 however, was mere conjecture, for although I 

 believe it possible, 1 do not think it probable. The 

 wonderful and varied forms of spiders adapting 

 themselves to every condition of life even under 



the most adverse circumstances, is evident to all 

 who have made nature their study. Obviously, the 

 spider's form and colouring is a provision for the 

 safety of a creature that has no wings to flee from 

 its enemies, or other means of protecting itself ; 

 and it is one of the many of Nature's pretty little 

 pieces of ingenuity, which will invariably strike a 

 reflective mind, causing him to admire, wonder, and 

 speculate at a beautiful contrivance for the safety 

 of a spider, a thing, apparently of so little value. 

 ' That ugly spider !' is the usual exclamation, an 

 insect despised by nearly all, feared by many, and 

 sought after by none. Nevertheless, who shall 

 decide or condemn ? Not we, who have made the 

 study of God's works our pastime, for he ' who 

 marks the sparrow's fall,' regards the spider like- 

 wise, and has set apart the work which is allotted 

 to it ; it has its ' mission ;' for is not the spider one 

 of those appointed to keep down the preponderance 

 of insect life, — one of the protectors of our herbage- 

 plants ? Go into the forest and watch its oft-reple- 

 nished net, and mark well the creatures that are 

 snared therein, and learn a lesson that, without 

 our friend the ' hideous spider,' there would be a 

 missing link in Nature's endless chain." 



M. E. Babber. 



MICROSCOPY. 



Cleaning Sand Eoraminifera. —The following 

 plan is given in Mr. Davie's work on " Preparing 

 and Mounting" : — "Eirst, thoroughly dry the sand 

 in which the objects are ; then pour the mass into 

 clean water, when the sand will sink to the bottom, 

 and the Eoramiuifera, being filled with air, will float 

 upon the surface of the water : they may then be 

 skimmed off and dried. To clean the specimens 

 place them in a vessel (I should think a small test- 

 tube would answer the purpose very well), add a 

 weak solution of potash, and boil for a short time ; 

 wash well in water, dry, and mount according to 

 structure." I cannot vouch for the efiiciency of this 

 process, as I have never prepared any objects of 

 this class myself. — Wm. Sargant,jun. 



CoLiiiNs's LiGHT-coEBECTOK. — Mr. CoUins has 

 just devised an ingenious apparatus for this pur- 

 pose, consisting of a brass stage - plate with a 

 groove, in which rotates a diaphragm of four aper- 

 tures, one of them being open, and the other 

 containing blue glasses of special tint, and one with 

 a finely-ground surface. These effectually correct 

 the yellowness of all artificial illumination, making 

 the light soft and agreeable to the eyesight, as 

 well as improving the definition. It is, in fact, an 

 improvement on Rainey's Light-modifier, so as to 

 obtain more varied effects, and does not require 

 any special fitting, as it can be used on any micro- 

 scope. — Popular Science Review, 



