362 AFFECTION OF INSECTS FOR THEIR YOUNG. 



sufficiently active to prevent the ant-lion from seizing 

 her bag of eggs, which it attempted to pull under the 

 sand. She made the most violent efforts to defeat the 

 aim of her invisible foe, and on her part struggled with 

 all her might. The gluten, however, which fastened her 

 bag, at length gave way, and it separated : but the spider 

 instantly regained it with her jaws, and redoubled her 

 efforts to rescue the prize from her opponent. It was in 

 vain : the ant-lion was the stronger of the two, and in 

 spite of all her struggles dragged the object of contesta- 

 tion under the sand. The unfortunate mother might 

 have preserved her own life from the enemy : she had 

 but to relinquish the bag, and escape out of the pit. But, 

 wonderful example of maternal affection ! she preferred 

 allowing herself to be buried' alive along with the trea- 

 sure dearer to her than her existence ; and it was only 

 by force that Bonnet at length withdrew her from the 

 unequal conflict. But the bag of eggs remained with the 

 assassin : and though he pushed her repeatedly with a 

 twig of wood, she still persisted in continuing on the spot. 

 Life seemed to have become a burthen to her, and all 

 her pleasures to have been buried in the grave which 

 contained the germe of her progeny ^ ! The attachment 

 of this affectionate mother is not confined to her eggs. 

 After the young spiders are hatched, they make their 

 way out of the bag by an orifice, which she is careful to 

 open for them, and without which they could never 

 escape^; and then, like the young of the Surinam toad 

 (Rana pipa), they attach themselves in clusters upon her 

 back, belly, head, and even legs ; and in this situation, 

 where they present a very singular appearance, she car- 

 * Bonnet, ii. 435. t- Dc Geer, vii. \94. 



