336 ARANEID^ — TRUE SPIDERS. 



At a ladies' school at Kensington, England, an immense 

 species of Spider is said to be uncomfortably common ; and 

 that when the young ladies sing their accustomed hymn or 

 psalm before morning and evening prayers, these Spiders 

 make their appearance on the floor, or suspended overhead 

 from their webs in the ceiling, obviously attracted by the 

 "concord of sweet sounds."^ 



The following lines "to a Spider which inhabited a cell," 

 are from the Anthologia Borealis et Australis : 



In this wild, groping, dark, and drearie cove, 



Of wife, of children, and of health bereft, 

 I hailed thee, friendly Spider, who hadst wove 



Thy mazy net on yonder mouldering raft : 

 Would that the cleanlie housemaid's foot had left 



Thee tarrying here, nor took thy life awaj^; 

 For thou, from out this seare old ceiling's cleft, 



Came down each morn to hede my plaintive lay; 

 Joying like me to heare sweete musick play, 

 Wherewith I'd fein beguile the dull, dark, lingering day. 2 



"When the great and brilliant Lauzun was held in cap- 

 tivity, his only joy and comfort was a friendly Spider : she 

 came at his call ; she took her food from his finger, and well 

 understood his word of command. In vain did jailors and 

 soldiers try to deceive his tiny companion ; she would not 

 obey their voices, and refused the tempting bait from their 

 hand. Here, then, was not only an ear, but a keen power 

 of distinction. The despised little animal listened with 

 sweet affection, and knew how to discriminate between not 

 unsimilar tones. "^ 



Quatremer Disjonval, a Frenchman by birth, was an ad- 

 jutant-general in Holland, and took an active part on the 

 side of the Dutch patriots when they revolted against the 

 Stadtholder. On the arrival of the Prussian army under 

 the Duke of Brunswick, he was immediately taken, tried, 

 and, having been condemned to twenty-five years' imprison- 

 ment, was incarcerated in a dungeon at Utrecht, where he 

 remained eight years. During this long confinement, by 

 many curious observations upon his sole companions, Spi- 

 ders, he discovered that they were in the highest degree 



1 The Mirror, xxvii. 69. 



2 Hone's Ev. Day Book, i 334. 



3 Stray Leaves from the Book of Nature. 



