COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. 



901 



COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. XIII. 



AKACHNIDA. 



THE typo of this class, and that which gives it its name, ia tho 



common spider. According to Greek mythology, Arachno wan 



,/lit.T of a famous Lydian purple-dyer. She BO excelled 



in weaving that she challenged the great Athena, goddess of all 



less needlessly destructive of these creatures, which are neither 

 ugly nor uninteresting, it is worth repeating. Th unfortunate 

 Arachno still weaves bier inimitable fabrics, and still hangs BUS* 

 pi -ii-li <! from our ceilings, while tho omnipotent housemaid, 

 goddess of this lower sphere, still rends her web, and drives the 

 weaver to despair. The little metamorphosed Lydian dyer's 

 daughter excites a childish disgust, which is handed down from 



I. EPEIEA QUADRATA, A COMMON BRITISH SPIDER. II. UNDER-SIDE or CEPHALO-THORAX OP AOELENA. III. FBOHT OF CEPHALO-TBORAX OP 

 WALCKENABRA ACITMINATA, WITH ITS EYES MOUNTED ON A WATCH TOWER. IV. DITTO OP EPEIRA. V. CEPHALO-THORAX OP MTQALB, 



SHOWINQ THE RELATION OP THE NERVOUS AND ALIMENTARY SYSTEMS. VI. DIAGRAM OP SECTION OP SPIDER, SHOWING ITS BLOOD-VASCULAS 



SYSTEM. VII. PYCNOOONIUM LITTORALE. VIII. IXODES (Doo-TicK). IX. SCORPION. 



Ret. to Nos. in Figs. II. 1, mandible, or antennarv jaw ; 2, maxilla ; 2', its palp ; 3, labrum ; 4, breastplate ; 5, origin of legs. V. 1, brain ; 2. 

 thoracic ganglion with the cut ends of the nerves of the legs ; 3, optic nerves ; 4, mandibular nerves ; 5, mouth ; 6, commencement of 

 stomach. VI. 1, Four-chambered heart ; 2, lung. IX. 1, oephalo- thoracic shield succeeded by the abdominal segment ; 2, mandible ; 3, 

 maxilla, with its piucor-liko palp ; 4, 5, 6, 7. legs ; 8, comb-like orgaiu on the sternum of the tenth segment ; 9, telson. or sting. 



the arts, to compote with her. To display her skill she wove a 

 piece of tapestry representing the loves of the gods, which was 

 so faultless that Athena herself could not find a flaw in the de- 

 .si^n or execution. Not to be baffled, the goddess did what so 

 many mortals do when surpassed by others she tore the master- 

 piece to fragments. Arachne, in despair, essayed to hang her- j 

 self ; but Athena, more in anger than in kindness, changed the 

 rope into a cobweb, and Arachne into a spider. If this legend 

 should induce any one to be a little more considerate, or a little 



66 N.E. 



generation to generation ; but if any one will substitute a reason* 

 able examination for an unreasonable avoidance, he will find that 

 beautiful which he preconceived was ugly, and that interesting 

 which he misjudged as repulsive. In those dark ages when 

 superior wisdom and virtue were more certain to bring to their 

 possessors hopeless imprisonment than the greatest crimes, 

 many a solitary prisoner of refined and appreciative nature has 

 waited to see the little Arachne descend from the roof of his 

 cell with aa much impatience as any lover beneath the casement 



