FOOT OF THE SPIDER. 345 



possibly have seen each other, will hit upon the same idea, not 

 only simultaneously, but often in the very same words. So it 

 is with regard to the Comb. In no two parts of the world can 

 the natives be more opposed to each other than is the case with 

 Fiji and Western Africa ; yet I possess specimens of combs 

 from both countries, made on the same principles, and so 

 exactly in the same manner, that, except for the coarseness 

 of the African Comb, it would be almost impossible to distin- 

 guish between them. There is but a slight difference in the 

 size and shape of the two combs, and yet nothing can be more 

 distinct than the characters of the two nations. 



I have also a Japanese Comb of the most ingenious con- 

 struction. It is made of wood, and cut exactly like our double 

 ivory small-tooth comb ; but it is furnished with a curious 

 kind of handle, consisting of a flat piece of wood with a deep 

 longitudinal slit, into which either side of the comb fits ; and 

 so beautifully is it made, that when it is fitted upon either 

 side of the comb it looks as if handle and comb had been cut 

 out of the same piece of wood. 



The Fijian Combs are much after the same fashion as those 

 of Western Africa, except that, with the artistic nature of 

 their kind, the Fijians, instead of merely lashing together the 

 numerous spikes of which the comb is made, employ a variety 

 of patterns, and seem to luxuriate in the exuberance of artistic 

 spirit which can make hundreds of combs, and no two of them 

 alike. 



ON the left hand of the illustration are two examples of 

 Natural Combs which are well worthy of notice. The upper 

 one is a foot of the common Garden Spider (Epeira diadema), 

 which has been several times mentioned in this work in con- 

 nection with different subjects. 



Every one who has watched the life of one of these creatures 

 must have noticed how often its hairy body becomes clogged 

 with little bits of its own web, and how dexterously it releases 

 itself from such encumbrances. The figure in the illustration 

 shows how this can be done, the strangely formed foot acting 

 at the same time the part of comb and brush. It will be seen 

 that the curved spikes of the claws act as a comb, while the 

 bristle-like hairs discharge the duty of a brush. 



