234 Mr. Yarrell on the xiphoid bone of the Corvorant. 



cisely the same position in which I had left them, and I have not the 

 shghtest doubt that they had not moved during my absence. Being anxi- 

 ous to secure them as specimens for my cabinet, and being obHged to 

 leave home on the instant, I vms reluctantly compelled to disturb the 

 happy pair. They still, however, remain side by side in my cabinet, as 

 an instance and singular example of the " Loves of the Spiders.*' 



P.S. The species appears to be an Epeira. The eyes are thus ( ?* J: ) 

 It is of a light brownish gray colour, with a row of dark spots down the 

 sides of the abdomen. It is nearly a quarter of an inch in length when 

 alive, and appears to be a common species in my neighbourhood. It 

 generally remains on the under side of the web, in the centre, and it does 

 not appear that they form cells of retreat in one of the angles of their 

 webs, like many other species. The web is irregularly constructed. 



Art. XXVIII. On the use of the xiphoid bone and its muscles 

 in the Corvorant^ (Pelecanus carbo, Linn,) By William 

 Yarrell, ^^^r., i^.Z/./S., ^c. 



Of the different modes by which the study of Natural History in 

 its various branches is pursued, none afford greater gratification to the 

 inquirer, or are attended with more solid advantages than a close exami- 

 nation of those multiplied peculiarities of anatomical structure, from 

 which all classes of animals derive their varied and extraordinary powers. 



This department of Natural History has the additional recommendation 

 that neither rare nor costly specimens are necessary for its pursuit. The 

 wisdom and power of the great Creator pervades every species. The 

 most beautiful examples of organic structure, peculiarly adapted to the 

 exigencies of the animal, are to be found in many of those of the most 

 ordinary occurrence ; and the anatomical and physiological views of those 

 Naturalists who have preceded in the inquiry may be confirmed, rejected, 

 or probably be found capable of still further illustration, according to 



