The Life of the Spider 



evening and the night were his time for tak- 

 ing his walks abroad. I often heard him 

 scratching the paper of the bag. These habits 

 confirm the opinion, which I have already 

 expressed elsewhere, that most Spiders have 

 the faculty of seeing by day and night, like 

 cats. 



'On the 28th of June, my Tarantula cast 

 his skin. It was his last moult and did not 

 perceptibly alter either the colour of his at- 

 tire or the dimensions of his body. On the 

 14th of July, I had to leave Valencia; and 

 I stayed away until the 23d. During this 

 time, the Tarantula fasted; I found him look- 

 ing quite well on my return. On the 20th of 

 August, I again left for a nine days' absence, 

 which my prisoner bore without food and 

 without detriment to his health. On the 1st 

 of October, I once more deserted the Taran- 

 tula, leaving him without provisions. On 

 the 2 1 st, I was fifty miles from Valencia, 

 and as I intended to remain there, I sent a 

 servant to fetch him. I was sorry to learn 

 that he was not found in the jar, and I never 

 heard what became of him. 



'I will end my observations on the Taran- 

 tulae with a short description of a curious 



50 



