CH. XIV.] THE SPIDER. 249 



enough to prevent the ant-lion from seizing the bag 

 of eggs between its formidable pincers ; the mother 

 made every effort to withdraw herself from her 

 dangerous foe, and in her struggles the bag became 

 loosened, and was retained by her enemy. Instead, 

 however, of saving her own life, which she could 

 easily have done by running off, she instantly turned 

 and seized the bag between her jaws, and struggled 

 to regain her lost treasure ; the enormous strength 

 of the ant-lion was too great for her powers, even 

 though stimulated by the full force of maternal in- 

 stinct, and the eggs were consequently drawn under 

 the sand ; still, however, she retained her hold, and 

 rather than relinquish that, without which life was 

 a burden, she suffered herself to be buried alive with 

 her progeny. It was now that Bonnet compas- 

 sionated her fate and rescued her from the jaws of 

 death, but he could not restore to her the bag of 

 eggs so tenaciously held by the ant-lion. She lin- 

 gered at the spot where the eggs were buried, re- 

 gardless alike of her own danger, and of the efforts 

 of Bonnet to remove her from her enemy, by push- 

 ing her off with a piece of twig. 



Her cares are not confined to the egg only, but 

 when the young themselves are evolved, she allows 

 them to cling to her body, until such time as they 

 shall become strong enough to hunt for themselves ; 

 and thus laden, she may be seen in her ordinary 

 haunts. Much has been said of the venom of spi- 

 ders, but De Geer and others, who have made the 

 experiment on themselves, have never found any ill 

 effects arising from the trial. 



Spiders have been domesticated ; a Parisian ma- 

 nufacturer kept and fed eight hundred of these 

 creatures, in one apartment ; they became so tame, 

 that whenever he came in with his dish of flies, they 

 descended to take their food. This story, related 

 in the French Dictionary of Natural History, if true, 

 proves, that even these solitary and cruel creatures 



