I 



and their fuppofcd Po'ifon. 79 



downwards*. Thefe forceps or claws are moveable, and 

 can eafily be turned upwards or downwards, and everi from 

 right to left. It is with thefe inftruments that the fpider 

 feizes, pinches, and kills its prey. The points alfo ferve it as 

 a mouth : though their extremity is very fliarp, it is pierced 

 towards the end ; and the infide of the forceps is hollow ; fo 

 that the fpider by thefe means fucks up the moifture of flies, 

 or of other infecls which it feizes, 



Swammerdam fays, that what might be taken for teeth in 

 the fpider are real flings or darts with which it pierces thofe 

 animals the blood of which it fucks : but this obferver did 

 not believe that the fpider emitted from thefe darts a venom- 

 ous liquor. Lifter, who fays he had certain proofs of fpiders 

 being venomous, expreffcd the poifon from thefe inftru- 

 ments. Leuwenhoek alfo advances, that the venom of the 

 fpiders is contained in the cavity of the ftiarp pincers which 

 proceed from the mouth of the infe<a. Others have faid that 

 thefe forceps are not hollow, but that the venom proceeds 

 from a fmall trunk which ilfues from the mouth at the mo- 

 ment when the infeft feizes its prey. It is poffible, and even 

 probable, that different kinds of fpiders have a difterent or- 

 ganifation; and it is a certain faa, that many fpiders, and 

 " perhaps all of them, throw out from their mouth a certain 

 liquor, with which they moiften their prey. We may reft 

 allured, however, that our fpiders have nothing in them of a 

 venomous nature; and this is proved by our fo often touch- 

 ing them without danger. They are often between our teeth 

 when we eat fruit and certain kinds of vegetables, yet we 

 perceive no other bad confequences from them than thofe 

 which may arife from fear and the idea of dirtinefs. There 

 are even fpidcr-caters, who make a fporl of fv/allowing them: 

 fomc do it through whim, others through a depraved tafte, 

 and fbme to flicw their courage, or to gain a wager f. Redi 

 * This ikfciiption is according to GeotTroy, Vol. III. ;-. 631. Tiiofc of 

 Linneus atnl Fabiicius are as follows : Aranc-a. Os uiigmbus f. retiKa- 

 ciilis cItioLis. Palpi diiu'a) It cvlati, Linn. Arancn. Labium bieve, apicero- 

 tundiitiim. Palpi duo iiicurvi, maris clavati. Fabric. 



t Inftances of fpider-eaters may be found in the Ephcmcridcs of the 

 Searches into Nature, the Philofophical Traiifailions, and in Vandcr- 

 "Aitl, who ha; coUcaed a treat many from diifcrent authors. 



faw 



