ANIMALS OF THE ORDER ARANEIDEA. 33 
feed freely on the flies introduced toit. The thermometer, at the time the experiment was 
made, indicated a temperature of 74°. 
In a hostile encounter between two female spiders of the species Segestria senoculata, 
on the 29th of July 1846, one of them was pierced by the fangs of her opponent on the 
under side of the abdomen, near the spinners. A transparent colourless fluid oozed from 
the wounds for many minutes, and ultimately coagulated; but the spider seemed to expe- 
rience little inconvenience from the injury, being lively in its motions and preying eagerly 
upon the insects with which it was supplied. The temperature at the time was 76°, and 
the atmosphere was highly electrical. 
A female Ciniflo atrox was bitten by an exasperated female Lycosa agretyca near the 
middle of the cephalo-thorax, on the 29th of July 1846, the temperature by the thermo- 
meter being 76°. The Lycosa retained its hold for many seconds, and on quitting it volun- 
"tarily a transparent colourless fluid flowed from the punctures and coagulated. The 
wounded spider, apparently regardless of the injury it had received, spun a web with 
which it long continued to ensnare its victims. 
On the same day, the mercury in the thermometer denoting a temperature of 75°, a 
female Epeira diadema, in a violent struggle with a female Celotes saxatilis, pierced her 
abdomen in the medial line of the dorsal region, about a third of its length from the 
spinners. The wounded spider did not exhibit any marked symptoms of distress and 
speedily resumed its accustomed habits. 
In an attack made by a female Ciniflo ferox upon a female Lycosa agretyca, on the 
30th of July 1846, the temperature being 74°, the latter was wounded by the fangs of its 
assailant at the base of the coxa of the left posterior leg, and a transparent fluid, which 
soon coagulated, issued from the injured part. Nothing occurred afterwards to indicate 
that the Zycosa had suffered from the encounter. | 
Two female spiders of the species Æpéira diadema engaged in a severe contest on the 
30th of July 1846, the thermometer standing at 73°, when one of them was seized by the 
fangs of her antagonist near the middle of the right side of the abdomen. A brown fluid 
flowed from the punctures and soon coagulated, but the spider appeared to be only slightly 
and very briefly affected by the injury. sx 
A female Epéira diadema, in a highly excited state, bit itself near the middle of the 
femur of the left anterior leg, on the 5th of September 1846. The temperature at the 
time was 69°, and a transparent fluid flowed copiously from the wounded part; coagula- 
tion, however, quickly ensued, after which the spider manifested no unfavourable symptom 
whatever. . : : 
Extensive mechanical injuries commonly prove fatal to spiders, whether received in 
conflicts with their congeners or otherwise, the extinction of life being Por less rapid 
in proportion to the vitality of the part lacerated; but no Aus ign Bid the ge 
going experiments indicates that the fluid emitted from the o ifice Br "i Bis o 4 e 
Araneidea possesses a property destructive to the existence of animals of that order when 
transmitted into a recent wound ; in short, it does not appear to exercise any greater de- 
gree of influence upon them than it does upon the human species. 
I now proceed to show how insects are affected when pierced by the fangs of spiders. 
F 
VOL. XXI. 
