CHAPTER VIII 



THE CRAB SPIDER 



THE Spider that showed me the exodus 

 in all its magnificence is known officially 

 as Thomisus onustus, Walck. Though the 

 name suggest nothing to the reader's mind, it 

 has the advantage, at any rate, of hurting 

 neither the throat nor the ear, as is too often 

 the case with scientific nomenclature, which 

 sounds more like sneezing than articulate 

 speech. Since it is the rule to dignify plants 

 and animals with a Latin label, let us at least 

 respect the euphony of the classics and refrain 

 from harsh splutters which spit out a name 

 instead of pronouncing it. 



What will posterity do in face of the ris- 

 ing tide of a barbarous vocabulary which, 

 under the pretence of progress, stifles real 

 knowledge? It will relegate the whole busi- 

 ness to the quagmire of oblivion. But what 

 will never disappear is the popular name, 

 which sounds well, is picturesque and conveys 

 some sort of information. Such is the term 



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