CH. XIV.] THE SPIDER. 243 



door, and the rest to the walls of the gallery, it 

 pulls with all its might against the intruder. Ob- 

 servers have convinced themselves of the fact by- 

 lifting- up the door with a pin, when they have felt 

 the counter tugs of the spider endeavouring to shut 

 it. As soon as the creature is convinced that far- 

 ther efforts are useless, it relinquishes the contest, 

 and retires to the bottom of the gallery. All 

 attempts to observe the manners of this creature in 

 captivity have proved fruitless, as it soon perished. 

 These spiders prowl about at night, and having 

 secured their prey, drag it within their den, and con- 

 sume it at their leisure. 



The water-spider (Aranea aquatica) is another 

 which spins no web to catch its prey ; but, never- 

 theless, offers one of the most singular objects of 

 contemplation. If we possessed no other evidence 

 that the world had been planned and created by an 

 Intelligent Being, the habits, proceedings, and in- 

 stincts of this little creature would be alone suffi- 

 cient to prove the fact. As soon as it has caught 

 its prey on the shore, it dives to the bottom of the 

 waters, and there devours its booty. It is, therefore, 

 an amphibious animal ; although it appears more 

 fitted to live in contact with the atmosphere than 

 with the water. The diving-bell is a modern inven- 

 tion ; and few facts excite our wonder more than 

 the possibility of a man's being enabled to live and 

 move at the bottom of the ocean. This triumph of 

 reason over the unfriendly element, however, was 

 anticipated by an insect, — the spider in question. 



This creature spins some loose threads which it 

 attaches to the leaves of aquatic plants; it then 

 varnishes them with a glutinous secretion, which 

 resembles liquid glass, and is so elastic as to admit 

 of considerable distention and contraction ; it next 

 lays a coating of this same substance over its own 

 body, and underneath this coating introduces a 

 bubble of air. Naturalists conjecture that it has the 



