SPIDERS AND THEIR WAYS. 807 



door, which it was annoyed to see opened by a stranger, and on 

 the next day a new trap was constructed at a short distance 

 from the former one. Had the creature thought that the new 

 door would be unknown to the person who had disturbed it 

 at the old one ? When its last hour was approaching, the 

 California mason crept slowly out from its home, and was after- 

 ward picked up dead on the ground at some distance from 

 the spot. 



In the world of spiders, as we have seen it under its varying 

 aspects, a fundamental unity of character prevails in essentials, 

 with an attracting diversity in secondary things. While the 

 creatures are highly organized, they are very unequally endowed 

 in fortune, in physical advantages, and in resources to help them 

 in the struggle for existence. Notwithstanding their sagacity, 

 they do not inspire the interest or sympathy that is bestowed 

 upon insects that work in common and form social organizations. 

 In their solitary life they represent individual egotism in its most 

 absolute sense. Yet they are all alike watchful mothers, displaying 

 an unparalleled solicitude for their offspring — a solicitude which 

 we might even call tenderness. While with most other animals 

 the sexual relations promote kindly and social qualities, the rela- 

 tions between male and female spiders are generally very much 

 strained. Yet, as if Nature repelled a rule absolutely without ex- 

 ception, we have witnessed some pleasant instances of union 

 among a few privileged species. The instincts of spiders have 

 revealed themselves in striking forms, while some signs of a 

 higher faculty have also appeared. And does not a being which 

 shows such just appreciation of situations, and can repair damages 

 to its structures in so irreproachable a manner, show evidence of 

 a reasoning faculty ? In truth, observation of the acts and facul- 

 ties of the humblest creatures is not without use in adding to our 

 knowledge of the wonderful phenomena which are the subjects of 

 psychology. — Translated for the Popular Science Monthly from 

 the Revue des Deux Mondes. 



The advance that has taken place in scientific and in all thought is wonderfully 

 illustrated in the history of the authorship of the " Vestiges of Creation." Eobert 

 Chambers's connection with the work was well understood in private circles when 

 the book appeared, but was never avowed ; and he was obliged to forego a can- 

 didacy for public office for fear that the matter would be stirred. This was be- 

 cause there was danger that the house of the Chambers's would be ruined if it 

 became publicly known that one of its members was the author of so pernicious a 

 book. Compare this situation with that of tlie present, when evolution has become 

 a general scientific fact, exerting its acknowledged influence on religious thought, 

 almost without longer exciting remark ! 



