820 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1805. 



" the fly shall be in all the dc 

 '^ sert places, and consequently the 

 " sands ; yet this Mas a particular 

 " dispensation of providence, to 

 *' answer a special end, the dcsola- 

 *' tion of Egypt, and was not a 

 '' repeal of the general law, but a 

 ■" condrmation of it ; it was an ex- 

 " ception, for a particular purpose, 

 " and a limited time." 



Mr. Bruce adds that this insect 

 lias no sting, but that its motion is 

 more rapid than that of the bee, and 

 resembles that of the gad-fly in 

 England ; and that there is some- 

 thing particular in its sound or buz- 

 2ing. It is a jarring noise, together 

 with a hununing, which induces Mr. 

 Bruce to suppose that it proceeds, 

 at least in part, from a vibration 

 made with the three hairs at the 

 snout. He observes farther, that 

 the Chaldee version is content with 

 calling this animal simj)!y zchiib^ 

 which signifies the fly in general, as 

 ■we express it in English. The 

 Arabs call it zimb in their transla- 

 tion. The Ethiopic translation calls 

 it tsaltsalya, which is the true 

 name of this particular fly in Gecz, 

 and was the same in Hebrew. 



Kafural Hisfnn/ of the Spider. 

 By Doctor Shaii.\ 



The very extensive genus aranea 

 may be distril)uted into several 

 sections, according to the shape or 

 habit of body, or according to the 

 position of the eyes, which arc 

 ditferently placed in the diflerent 

 families. I shall at present however 

 mention only a few of the most re- 



markable species, without any 

 particular division of the genus. 



One of the largest of the Euro- 

 pean spiders is the aranea diadema 

 of Linnnetis, which is extremely 

 common in our own country, and is 

 chiefly seen during the autumnal 

 season in gardens, &c. The body 

 of this species, when full grown, is 

 not much inferior in size to a small 

 hazel nut : the general colour of 

 the animal is deep chcsnut-brown, 

 approaching to reddish in some 

 specimens, and the abdomen is 

 beautifully marked by a longitudi- 

 nal series of round or drop-shaped 

 milk-white spots, crossed by others 

 of similar appearance, so as to repre- 

 sent in some degree the pattern of a 

 small diadem. This spider, in the 

 months of September and October, 

 forms, in some convenient spot or 

 shelter, a large round, close, or 

 thick web of yellow silk, in which 

 it deposits its eggs, guarding tlie 

 round web with a secondary one of 

 a looser texture. The young are 

 hatched in the cmuing Alay, the 

 parent insects dying towards the 

 close of autumn. The male of 

 this species is distitigiiislied by hav- 

 ing the back crossed by four or (ivQ. 

 black-brown bars. The aranea 

 diadema, being one of the largest of 

 the common spiders, serves to 

 exemplify some of the principal 

 characters of the genus in a clearer 

 manner than most others. At the 

 tip of the abdomen are placed Ave* 

 papillip or teats, through which th& 

 insect draws ifs (bread ; and as each 

 <>l these j>apill;n is iiirnished wit'i a 

 vast number of foramina or outlets, 

 disposed over its whole surface, it 

 follows that what we commonlv 



tenu 



♦ In some species four;, and in some are two smaller papillae, the nature of which 

 is doubtful. 



