SPIDER GOSSIP. 



21 



skin, both the palate and the throat come away too, and so its 

 ridges are always being renewed and kept sharp. Passing through 

 the mouth, the liquid food is drawn down the throat {thr.^ Fig. i 

 and Fig. 6). Its admission to the alimentary canal is controlled 



Fig. 3.— Small part of the same, highly magnified, showing 

 the ends of the blood-leaflets, blood-cells inside them, 

 and the hairs which keep them apart to allow free 

 admission to fresh air. h.h.c, Human blood-cell 

 drawn to same scale, and four lOOOths of an inch. 

 Magnified five hundred diameters. 



Fig. 4. — External view of mouth of Water Spider, Agyroneta 

 aguatica, male, seen from underneath. Showing jaws, 

 fangs, lower lip. and feelers. Magnified ten diameters. 



by the pharynx, which acts as a valve (j>/i. Fig. i and Fig. 5). 

 This organ is formed by three curved plates — see the cross section 

 Fig. 5, — touching each other. These are controlled by three 

 muscles, all of which are drawn in the same figure, and the upper 



