March 1, 136S.] H ARDTVICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Gl 



GEMS OF THE CABINET. 



Tig. 40. Eyes op a Tabanitjla, x 23. 



TN collections of all kinds, whether they refer to 

 -*- nature or art, there must occur in the variety of 

 specimens, some few of a greater value, distinguished 

 from all others by their superior perfection or 

 rarity ; and thus placed apart as centres of interest 

 and attraction. 



Our conchological friend, for example, will show 

 us drawers full of what, to our innocence, may 

 appear to be beautiful shells; but he generally 

 selects some particular specimen, and under such 

 a name perhaps as Pseudoliva or Fastigiella, claims 

 for it our admiration and our sympathy with his 

 pride as its possessor. 



This is especially the case with microscopic 

 objects ; and indeed it may be safely asserted that 

 no collection, carefully selected and of fair extent, 

 is without some two or three examples which, either 

 from their rarity or beauty, may well be called the 

 "Gems of the Cabinet." 



Illustrations of slides of this order, accompanied 

 by short accounts of their nature and the manner 

 of their acquisition, would, we think, at once tend 

 to awaken a wider interest in these studies, save 

 many beautiful but perishable things from destruc- 

 tion, and assist the microscopist in his search for 

 some of the more striking and rare objects with 

 which to adorn his collection. 



Our present subject is a slide showing the com- 

 plete set of eyes of a Tarantula spider of the genus 

 Lyeosa. It is perhaps with the Kelner eye-pieces, 

 and magnified to a diameter of eight inches, that it 

 can be seen to the greatest advantage. 



It was obtained from some debris of a collection 



once in the possession of the celebrated entomo- 

 logists Kirby and Spencc. No record of it was 

 preserved ; and to make out with certainty the 

 exact species would be almost impossible. There 

 is little doubt, however, that it is a South American 

 spider, and most probably its true habitat is 

 Colombia. 



We extract the following notice of these animals 

 from a treatise on the Invertebrata by Mr. TV. S. 

 Dallas : — 



" The Lycosidae make no regular webs, but take 

 their prey by force ; some of them running it down 

 by swiftness of foot, whilst others spring upon the 

 unwary victim. 



"Perhaps the most celebrated of these spiders is 

 the Tarantula {Lyeosa tarantula) of Southern Europe, 

 whose bite is supposed by the natives of Italy to 

 cause death, unless the patient can be relieved by 

 music and violent dancing." 



Professor Owen says of the "Lycozse," in his 

 "Lectures on the Invertebrate Auimals" (second 

 edition), that " the poison glands extend into the 

 cephalothorax," and this fact certainly gives pro- 

 bability to the commonly received tales of the 

 danger consequent on wounds inflicted by their 

 poisonous fangs. 



Clean and complete sets of the eyes of the higher 

 Arachnida will always make fine objects for the 

 microscope ; not only on account of their brilliant 

 colour and bold stereoscopic effect, but from the 

 wonderful and characteristic variety in the dispo- 

 sition of the individual organs. 



Kensington. H. C. R. 



