INTRODUCTION 



Of all of our little neighbours of the fields there are none 

 that are more universally shunned and feared than spiders, and 

 few that deserve it less. There is a widespread belief that spiders 

 are dangerous, that they are liable to bite, and that their bites 

 are very venomous. Now this may be true of certain large species 

 that live in hot countries; but the spiders of the temperate regions 

 are practically harmless. 



It is true, spiders bite and inject venom sufficient to kill an 

 insect into the wounds made by their fangs. But they are 

 exceedingly shy creatures, fearing man more than they are to 

 be feared. If an observer will refrain from picking up a spider 

 there is not the slightest danger of being bitten by one; and, 

 excepting perhaps a single uncommon species, no spider is known 

 in the northern United States whose bite would seriously affect 

 a human being. 



On the other hand, spiders are exceedingly interesting sub- 

 jects for study; for some of the most remarkable exhibitions of 

 instinctive powers are presented by them. What product of 

 instinctive skill is more wonderful than the web of an orb-weaving 

 spider! 



1 le who loves the out-of-doors will find the interest incident 

 to his walks greatly increased if he learns something of the habits 

 of spiders. Their webs are to be found everywhere; and those 

 of the different species differ greatly in structure, varying from 

 an irregular, tangled maze, as that of the common domestic 

 spider, to the wonderfully symmetrical nets of the garden-spiders. 



If spiders did not occur in our fauna, and if the keepers 

 of a zoological garden were to bring from some remote part of 

 the world living examples of the little animals that spin from 

 their bodies threads of silk of different kinds, some dry and in- 

 elastic, some viscid and elastic, and some, as the hackled band 

 of Filistata, of wonderful complexity of structure, and with these 

 threads construct snares of surprising regularity for trapping 

 their prey, the presence of such marvellous animals would at- 



