INSECT Tli OGLOB} 'TFJS. 



ir, 



riG. 40. — A MOTHEIi SPIDER AND HER BROOD. 



She may be seen thus hanghig in her favorite posture 

 upon the outer wall of her tower, her abdomen all 

 a-quiver with the crowded life -of her brood. " (Fig. 40. ) 

 "Dear me!" said the Doctor, laugliing, " what a 

 destiny that must be ! Surel}-, that is a progeny suf- 

 ficient to satisfy the cravings of the most capacious 

 mother-love. One might fancy that the Mother Goose 

 rhymster had this spider matron in view in the famous 

 nursery couplet : 



' There was an Old Woman who lived in a shoe, 

 And she had so many children she didn't know what to do.' " 



"The turret spider," I continued, "seems to know 

 what to do with her children. During the first three 

 weeks the little things are piled all over the head and 

 back of the mother, often appearing to blind her. They 



