ARAXEID.E. 



ARAUCARIA. 



adult and immature individuals of many species, and are effected in the 

 following way : They first mount to the summit of an object, and 

 then raise themselves still higher by straightening their limbs ; the 

 abdomen is then elevated into an almost perpendicular position, and 

 they emit from their spinnerets a small quantity of viscid fluid, which 

 is drawn into fine lines by the ascending current of air from the 

 heated ground. Against these lines the current of air from below 

 keeps impinging till the animals, finding themselves acted on with 

 sufficient force, quit their hold of the earth and mount into the 

 air. It has been sometimes stated that spiders can forcibly propel 

 or dart out lines from their spinnerets ; but when placed on twigs set 

 upright in glass vessels, with perpendicular sides, all their efforts to 

 escape are unavailing. 



The webs named gogsamer are composed of lines spun by spiders, 

 which, on being brought into contact by the action of a gentle air, 

 adhere together, till by continual additions they are accumulated 

 into irregular white flakes and masses of considerable extent. 



The poisonous effects of the wounds of spiders are produced by 

 means of the mandibles, or frontal claws, which are each armed with 

 a moveable and extremely sharp unguis, near to the point of which is 

 a minute orifice, whence there is poured out a drop of poison into 

 the wound. This orifice, which is very difficult to detect, com- 

 municates with a canal in the interior of the mandible ; this canal 



thorax. The gland consists of a vesicle having internally a number 

 of spiral filaments, which are connected together by a membrane in 

 the form of a bag. Although dreadful stories are related of the effects 

 of the bites of spiders on the human body, it appears from experi- 

 ments made by Mr. Blackwall on British Spiders, that none of these 

 have the power of producing any ill effects on human beings. There 

 is still wanting good evidence on which to rest a charge of poisoning 

 man by biting him, even against the larger forms of spiders, which 

 inhabit tropical climates. 



A curious feature in the history of spiders is the power they possess 

 of reproducing their limbs after they have been broken off. This 

 power, however, is not confined to spiders, as we find it in the 

 Crustacea [CRUSTACEA], and even in the vertebrate animals amongst the 

 Amphibia. [AMPHIBIA.] In the ease of the spiders, it is never a part 

 of a limb which is reproduced, but if a part of a leg is removed, it 

 proceeds to throw off the remainder, and after the next moult the 

 missing member reappears. 



The species of the family Arantidce are very numerous, and have 

 been arranged by naturalists under several genera. They have been 

 investigated with great care by M. WalcknJier, who has made them the 

 special study of his life, and has drawn up a natural arrangement of 

 them according to their structure and habits of life. A synopsis of 

 this arrangement we subjoin, as by a little study it will furnish an 

 insight into the surprisingly varied habits of this family : 



proceeds from a gland situated in the interspace of the muscles of the 



, TABLE OF THE SUBDIVISION OF THE ARANEID.E, OK ARACHNIDA FILOSA, INTO GENERA. 



Genera. 



LATKBRICOL.F., hiding in holes and fissures. 



TCBICOLJE, inclosing themselves in silken tubes. 

 CH.ri.iror..r, sheltering themselves in small cells. 



CUUOKES, running swiftly to catch their prey. 



SAJ.TATORES, leaping and springing with agility to 

 seize their prey. 



LATERIOBAD.S, walking and running sideways or 

 backwards ; occasionally throwing out threads to < 

 entrap their prey. 



NIDITELJK, going abroad, but making a web for their 

 nests, whence issue threads to entrap their prey. 



FILITZLJR, going abroad, but spreading long threads 

 of Mlk about the places where they prowl in order 

 to entrap their prey. 



AQUITKL.E, spreading filaments in the water to entrap 

 their prey. 



spinning great webs of a close texture 

 like hammocks, and dwelling therein to catch 

 their prey. 



ORBITF.L.K, spreading abroad webs of a regular and 

 open texture, either orbicular or spiral, and re- 

 maining in the middle or on one side to catch 

 their prey. 



KKTITKL^, spinning webs of an open meshwork and 

 of an irregular form, and remaining in the middle 

 or on one side to catch their prey. 



VITEL.E, spreading filaments in the i 

 their prey. 



(Cyclopadia of Anatomy and Physiology, article ' A rachnida, ; ' Blackwall, in Report of Eritith Association, 1844 ; Owen's Lectures 



on (somparatwe Anatomy ; Cuvier's Ittgne Animal; Insect Architecture, in Library of Entertaining Knowledge.) 



. ARAUCA'BIA, in Botany, is the^ name of a singular genus of with long drooping naked branches, towards the extremities of which 



the leaves are clustered ; these latter, when the plant is young, are 

 long, narrow, curved, sharp-pointed, and spreading, but when the tree 

 is old they have a shorter and broader figure, and are pressed close 

 to the branches ; old and young trees are consequently so different that 

 they have the appearance of distinct species. The bark abounds in 

 turpentine ; the wood, which is destitute of that substance, is white, 

 tough, and close-grained. It was once expected that this tree would 

 have been valuable for its timber, and that it would have afforded 

 for the navy of great size ; but it has been found on trial to be 



jimv^^-Tv ibi^i, in *">, i me name 01 a singular gen 

 gigantic Firs, found scattered over the southern hemisphere, 

 known from all the other firs by its stiff broad leaves, by a long 



It is 



, __, _ _ong leafy 



appendage with which the scales of its cones are terminated, and by 

 it anthers having many cells. The following species are those which 

 are beet known: 



Araucaria txcdia, commonly called the Norfolk Island Pine, is 

 found not only in the spot after which it hag been named, but also in 

 several other places in the South Seas, as in New Caledonia, Botany 

 Island, Isle of Pines, and in some parts of the east coast of 

 Australia. It in described as a most majestic tree, growing to the 

 height of from 160 to 228 feet, with a circumference sometimes of 

 more than 30 feet. Its trunk rises erect, and is sparingly covered 



If AT. HIST. DIV. VOL. I. 



too heavy, and so unsound that Captain Hunter could only find 7 

 trees fit for use out of 34 that he caused to be felled. Its wood is, 

 however, useful for carpenters' indoor work. Several specimens of 



u 



