272 THE SEASON WHY. 



1 So are the paths of all that forget God ; and the hypocrite's hope shall perish ; 



Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider's 



web." JOB vni. 



1081. Why does the bat sleep during the winter ? 



Because, as the winter approaches, the moths and flying insects 

 upon which it feeds, disappear. If, therefore, it did not sleep 

 through the winter it must have starved. 



Fig. 71. BAT WITH HOOKED WINGS. 



1082. Why has the spider the power of spinning a web ? 



Because, as it lives upon flies, but is deficient of the power of 

 flying in pursuit of them, it has been endowed with an instinct to 

 spread a snare to entrap them, and with the most wonderful 

 machinery to give that instinct effect. 



There are few things better suited to remove the disgust into which young 

 people are betrayed on the view of some natural objects, than this of the spider. 

 They will find that the most despised creature may become a subject of admira- 

 tion, and be selected by the naturalist to exhibit the marvellous works of the 

 creation. The terms given to these insects, lead us to expect interesting par- 

 ticulars concerning them, since they have been divided into vagrants, hunters, 

 swimmers, and water spiders, sedentary, and mason-spiders ; thus evincing a 

 variety in their condition, activity, and mode of life ; and we cannot be sur- 

 prised to find them varying in the performance of their vital functions (as, for 

 example, in their mode of breathing), as well as in their extremities and instru- 

 ments. Of these instruments the most striking is the apparatus for spinning 

 and weaving, by which they riot only fabricate webs to entangle their prey, but 

 form cells for their residence and concealment ; sometimes living in the 

 ground, sometimes under water, yet breathing the atmosphere. Corresponding 

 with their very singular organisation are their instincts. We are familiar with 

 the watchfulness and voracity of some spiders, when their prey is indicated by 

 the vibration of the cords of their net- work. Others have the eye and dis- 

 position of the lynx or tiger, and after couching in concealment, leap upon 

 their victims. Some conceal themselves under a silken hood or tube, six eyes 

 only projecting. Some bore a hole in the earth, and line it as finely as if it 

 were done with the trowel and mortar, and then hang it with delicate curtains. 

 A very extraordinary degree of contrivance is exhibited in the trap-door spider. 

 This door, from which it derives its name, has a frame and hinge on the mouth 

 of the cell, and is so provided that the claw of the spider can lay hold of it, and 



