17 



changes, until at last we came up to man, the greatest work 

 of the Almighty. Colonel Cox here made some very appro- 

 priate remarks on the importance of the study of natural 

 history, as showing at every time the greatness and the 

 goodness of God, as enlarging the mind, and giving it a 

 pure and healthy tone which could not be imparted to the 

 same extent by any other study. Reverting again to the 

 insect tribe, he showed that they all produced silk or a 

 glutinous matter resembling it, and that the moment this 

 glutinous substance came in contact with the air it was 

 turned into a silky matter. He then showed the way in 

 which the spider constructed its nest, as illustrated by the 

 splendid specimen on the table. Coming next to speak of 

 the habits • of some of the large spiders he spoke of the 

 tarantula nidulans, whose bite was poisonous, and who 

 marched boldly out in search of food. The mode in which 

 the poison was communicated to the human subject was ex- 

 plained at greatf length, and with much perspicuity by the 

 lecturer, and as the bite of the latter spider produced tetanic 

 symptoms, this was the origin of the tarantula dance, the n;t- 

 tives of the West Indies supposing that music would have some 

 effect in allaying these symptoms. The nest of the taran- 

 tula was of considerable size, inasmuch as this spider bur- 

 rowed in the soil, sometimes to the depth of four or five 

 inches. He first spun the silk, and then mixed it up with 

 Boil, making the nest a very compact looking article. Col. 

 Cox concluded by a very interesting account of the eggs of 

 the spider, and the manner in which they were exuded from 

 the body, and at the close of the lecture the cteniza nidulmis 

 was shown to all the audience through the microscope, 

 along with a number of other specimens of interesting ob- 

 jects from Colonel Cox's private collection. 



At the close of the lecture, the Chairman, in neat and 

 appropriate terms, moved a vote of thanks to the President 

 for his very interesting address, which was heartily rc- 

 spouJed to, and the proceedings theu terminated. 



