300 



The larger spider at once rushed to the spot where the little spider was, imagining 

 that a feast awaited him. The little one, knowing his danger, stung the owner of 

 the web, and took no further ni)tice, as he felt himself safe. The big fellow rushed 

 upstairs and at once bit his wounded leg off. It was a case with him of life and 

 death, and he had wisdom enough to know wherein safety lay. If you catch a 

 few spiders and put them into a wide-mouthed bottle, so pugnacious are they that 

 they will fight each other desperately ; and their intensity of anger seems to arise 

 very much from the conviction they have that, if bitten with the poison that exudes 

 from their mandibles, they must die. I remember reading of one having been 

 thu.s placed with three others. The three fought desperately at the bottom of the 

 bottle ; the fourth kept at the top of the bottle, only descending at very rapid 

 speed when he could give an envenomed bite at one of the others, which having 

 done, he retreated with consummate speed, so as to avoid being bitten himself. 

 He survived the others, they were soon dead. Speaking of the death of spiders, 

 let us ask — how long do they live? I gather, from an observation made in the 

 Royal Microscopical Jourtial lately, that it has not yet been decided. But surely 

 a tolerably good guess may be made. Three times the age when animals attain 

 the height of maturity is the time of their decay. Man is maturely grown at 

 23 years of age. Three times 23 make 1)9 — 69 is very nearly the threescore years 

 and ten mentioned by the Psalmist as the extent of strength. This rule, as far 

 as I know, is regular. When the palpi of spiders are right, they have nearly 

 attained their fullest powers. Multiply that time threefold, and I should imagine 

 you have the full length of life a spider attains. Spiders imdoubtedly live through 

 the winter, and will endure a very great amount of cold. They vivify and become 

 very active as soon as warmth is felt by them. 



The changing of skins, and the growth of limbs which have been damaged 

 or destroyed, is interesting. Some never change their skins, whereas many of 

 them pass through the moulting process. They vary, however, in different species, . 

 some of them easting their skins as many as eight or nine times. Supposing a 

 limb to have been lost, say a leg or part of a leg, that part comes again at the 

 change next following the infliction of the injury, not perhaps so symmetrical a leg 

 as before, but a really good one. What a good thing if we could substitute a cork 

 or wooden leg for another of flesh and blood. But we do not moult or cast our 

 skins. 



Spiders are oviparous ; that is to say, they lay eggs. Before they deposit 

 them, they generally form silken cocoons in which they are placed. House- 

 keepers know well when they see spiders' eggs in the corners of their rooms, or 

 where the ceiling and top of the wall join. The colour in which they find them 

 is often yellow, but other tints are also frequent, such as brown or pink. In 

 addition to this laying of the eggs, it is to be noticed that the eggs are sometimes 

 deposited singly, or in numbers, and not only disunited, but also compacted to- 

 gether. Some species of spiders leave their eggs to take care of themselves, 

 whilst there are others which display care and Ewixiety for their young, just as 

 much as any old hen could do with her brood of chickens. When the egg is 

 hatched, the young spiders are nearly helpless ; they, however, undergo the first 



