Funnel-Web Builder. 83 



the claw of the mandible. When the apparatus is not in use 

 the claws are closed up against the parts between the rows 

 of teeth ; but when the jaws are opened to bite the claws 

 are turned outward, so that their points can be made to 

 penetrate anything that comes between the jaws. The ordi- 

 nary function of the mandibles is the killing and crushing of 

 insects, so that the soft parts can be eaten by the spider, and 

 in this preparation they are substantially aided by the max- 

 illae. Spiders will sometimes chew an insect for hours, until 

 it becomes a mere ball of skin, only swallowing such bits as 

 may happen to be sucked in with the blood. Let alone and 

 unmolested, they bite nothing except insects that are useful 

 for food. But when attacked and cornered, all species open 

 their jaws and bite if they can, their ability to do so depend- 

 ing upon their size and the strength of their jaws. Notwith- 

 standing the large number of pimples and stings ascribed to 

 spiders, undoubted cases of their biting the human skin are 

 exceedingly rare, and the stories of death, insanity and lame- 

 ness from spider-bites are probably all untrue. Many experi- 

 ments have been made to test the effect of the bites of spi- 

 ders on animals. Insects succumb most readily to their 

 bites, some sooner than others, but birds, except when bitten 

 by the larger Mygale, recover after the lapse of a few hours. 

 The effect upon man, even when the bite is deep enough to 

 draw blood, is like the pricks of a needle, attended by little 

 or no inflammation or pain. Even in cases where death 

 among insects and birds ensues it is claimed by the authori- 

 ties, men as eminent as Blackwall, Moggridge and Dufour, 

 that the secretion from spiders' jaws is not poisonous, but 

 that the animals die, when bitten, from loss of blood and 

 mechanical injury. 



Such is the prejudice against the spider, that its presence, ' 

 no matter where found, whether in the open field or in a 

 corner of the house, is an inducement for its inveterate 

 enemy, man, to sweep it to the ground or floor and crush 

 its frail life out with one blow of the foot. Few know, or 



