\ i:\VKID.K 



.KANKID.K. 



This natural ordw Menu to poaseas little or no Mntible properties, for 

 the singular invigorating power ascribed to Ginseng by the Chinese U 

 considered to be apocryphal 



Muiy of the specie* of Ara'ia, on account of their aromatic pro- 

 pertie*, are employed in medicine. An aromatic gum-rosin oomes front 

 A. rocnMM, A. kupida, and A. tpiiuaa. A. mnlicianlu in diaphoretic, 

 and it* shoots are employed in North America as a substitute for 

 ganaparilla. A. nlniit ia employed in China as a sudorific, and it 

 young shoots are eaten. The root* of (ixnnera tcattra, or Pnnke, is 

 used by tannera on account of toe tannin it contain* Mr. Darwin 

 found it .. the sandstone-cliffs of Chiloe, where it resembles rhulmrh 

 on a gigantic scale. One of the leave* measured nearly eight feet in 

 diameter. 



AKANKID.E, the first family of the first order of the class 

 Anicliiiitla. [ARACHNID*-] They are also called Spinning Arachnida, 

 fnun their peculiar habit of producing long filamentous cords with 

 which they form their nests and webi It is to this family that the 

 term Spidtr is more especially applied ; and scientifically it embraces 

 all those creatures which are commonly called Spiders. All these are 

 embraced under the old Limiican genus Aranea. Kxternally this 

 family U distinguished by the following characters: The palpi 



resemble small feet without a 

 claw at the tip, terminated ut 

 mo.-t in the females by a small 

 hook, but in the males support- 

 ing various appendages, more 

 or less complicated, connected 

 with the function of reproduc- 

 tion in this family. The frontal 

 claws are terminated by a mov- 

 able hook which curves down- 

 wards, and has on its under-side 

 a little slit for the emission of 

 a poisonous fluid which is 

 secreted in a gland of the pre- 

 ceding joint. The maxilla; are 

 never more than two in number; 

 Sptnnercti of a Spider, mafrnifli-d. tne tongue is of a single piece, 

 always external, and situated between the maxilla, and more or less 

 square, triangular, or semicircular. The thorax has upon it a V-like 

 impression indicating the region of the head ; it consists of a single 



piece, to which is at- 

 tached behind a mov- 

 able and soft abdomen. 

 This part of the body 

 is furnished with four 

 or six nipples, fleshy 

 at the tips, round or 

 conical, jointed, placed 

 close together, and 

 pierced at the extre- 

 mity with an immense 

 number of minute orifices for the discharge of silken threads, which 

 are produced from matter formed in internal reservoirs. These are 

 called Spinnerets. The legs vary in length, but are composed of seven 



joints, of which the first two form 

 the haunch, the next the femur, 

 the fourth and the fifth the tibiae, 

 and the two others the tarsus. 

 The last U ordinarily terminated 

 by two claws, generally toothed 

 beneath, and by a third smaller 

 claw which ia not toothed. 



The most remarkable function 

 performed by the Arantii'nr is that 

 of producing silken threads by 

 means of the spinnerets above 

 described and figured. From 

 each one of the minute orifices 

 of the spinneret there exude as 

 many little drops of a liquid, 

 which, becoming dry the moment 

 it cornea in contact with the air, 

 forms no many delicate threads. 



Single thread of a Spider, ,:,>, d. {""mediately after the filament* 



have passed out of the pores 



nf the spinneret they unite first together and then with those of the 

 neighbouring spinneret* to form n common thread ; KO that the thread 

 of the spider, when it suspends itself from any object, is composed ol 

 an immense mimlxrr of minute filaments, amounting even to many 

 thousands, each of which is of such extreme tenuity that the naked eye 

 detect them till they are formed into a common thread. Tin 

 .- 1 >i M iii-reta of the same spider differ in structure, and Lyonnet liu.< 

 shown that one set of spinnerets is employed in producing threads 

 which are glutinous, whilst another set produces threads which an 

 li. This may be seen by throwing n little dost on a spider's .<) 

 such as that of Kprira ilimli am, when it will lie found that itadhcrcs 

 to the threads which are spirally disposed, but not to those that radiate 



ant i- 



rom the centre to the circumference, 

 be stronger than the spiral ones. 



These last ire also found t . 



Garden-Spider tuaiiendcd by a ilm :i.l. 



The spinnerets arc in connection with an internal apparatus v> hn-h 

 secretes the matter they thus elaliorate. This apparatus consists of 



Geometric Net of Epcira Dia 



a number of intestine-like canals which are united together, and vary 

 I with in number and extent according to the species in which they occur. 

 These canals empty themselves into tubes which open into the spinnerets 

 from whence the thread is extruded. 



It is by means of these threads that spiders construct the vari'.u > 

 webs which they throw from one object to another, for the pui | 

 entrapping their prey. It is said that some of the larger species con- 

 struct webs in which even small birds, such as the humming-binl, are 

 caught and made subservient to the wantx of the spider. No so. HUT i, 

 an insect or other small animal ensnared than the spider, placed in the 

 centre of its net, or in a cell built at its side for the purpose of wati liini;, 

 darts forth, and uses all its effort* to inflict upon it wounds into which 

 it pours the venom contained in its frontal claws. When the creature 

 thus caught offers too great a resistance, so that the spider becomes 

 endangered, he retires fora time from the contest to renew his strength, 

 leaving his victim secure in his meshes, and gradually getting exhausted 

 from the attempts it makes to escape. When the spider returns he 

 frequently twist* the web round and round the body of his victim, 

 ami then either at once commences to make a meal of him, or waits 

 till his ap|x>tite suggests the proper time for feeding. 



Although Spiders arc not provided with wings, and are consequently 

 incapable of (light, they have ; p.. WIT of iKillooning with their 

 threads, by means of which they can m:il,c di-.tant journey > ti 

 the atmosphere. These aerial excursions, which appear to result 

 an instinctive desire to seek some more favourable spot for the 

 gratification of their appetita or other cause, are under) :il>< 

 the weather is bright and serene, especially in the autumn, both by 



