416 MIMICRY IN SPIDERS. 



John Ray described with much accurary {Philosophical Trans., 

 1658, 1669, 1690), the manner in which the spiders chmb on 

 posts or stalks of grass, crouch down with the abdomen project- 

 ing as high as possible in the air, and if some breeze, however 

 slight, is present, send forth jets of silken filaments which float in 

 the air, and are sufficient to carry them off when they let go of 

 the blade of grass or other projecting support. An excellent 

 account of this operation is found in Dr. McCook's admirable 

 American Spiders and their Spin?ii?ig Work, based on the observa- 

 tions of the numerous investigators who have devoted their time 

 to the matter, and on those of the eminent writer himself, but one 

 point has escaped Dr. McCook's attention, in observation as well 

 as in reading ; he has not been acquainted with a paper by M. 

 Terby in 1867, and published that year in the Bulletins de 

 r Academic Royale de Belgique, and has not noticed the important 

 fact therein described — that the spider sends forth its jets only 

 under the influence of the motion of the air, and that one may at 

 will induce it to do so by merely blowing on it softly, with the 

 mouth, for instance. As soon as there is some motion of the air 

 the spider, when bent on " moving," of course, seems to be 

 irresistibly impelled to send forth the gossamer. M. Terby's 

 papers will be found useful, as they contain some notes on papers 

 which Dr. McCook does not appear to be acquainted with. 



— Popular Science Neius. 



In his ascent of Mount Dulit in Borneo, 5,090 feet high, Mr. 

 Charles Hose found a cave above four thousand feet, with wild 

 tobacco growing at its mouth and several remarkable ferns, of one 

 of which the fronds were fourteen feet long. The fauna illustrated 

 the widespread distribution in the islands of Borneo of Himalayan 

 forms. A magnificent view was had from the snow-clad summit 

 of the mountain of distinct ranges. Some' natives reported having 

 heard a tiger roaring in the neighbourhood, but Mr. Hose found 

 that the sound proceeded from a gigantic toad, which measured 

 fourteen inches and a-half round the body. 



