84 Life and Immortality. 



care to know, it would seem, the good it does for man. 

 He owes to it, in a large measure, the protection of his 

 crops, and no little of the comfort he enjoys in life. Spiders 

 are carnivorous creatures, and destroy vast number of insects, 

 many of which are man's worst enemies. They merit, and 

 deservingly, too, his kindness and protection for the benefits 

 they confer. 



Tarantulas have been supposed to produce epilepsy by 

 their bites, which could only be relieved by music of certain 

 kinds. Such stories, and they have been widely circulated 

 and believed, are the veriest nonsense, for tarantula-bites 

 produce no such effects nowadays. These spiders, which 

 live in holes in sand, out of which they reach after passing 

 insects, are no more savage in their habits than other spiders, 

 for Dufour, a celebrated French naturalist, once kept one 

 that soon learned to take flies from his fingers without mani- 

 festing the least disposition to bite. Different species quickly 

 learn, when treated with kindness, to regard man as their 

 friend. I have seen Agalena take food from the hand out of 

 a pair of forceps, or water from a brush, and even to reach on 

 tiptoe after it from the mouth of a bottle placed for her 

 accommodation. Though naturally timid and shy, and prone 

 to flee to her funnel on man's approach, yet she has been 

 known to permit the most unexpected familiarities without 

 fear or resentment. Many a female has taken from my 

 hand the proffered fly, and submitted to the gentle caresses 

 of my finger down the back and abdomen with the most 

 pleasurable satisfaction. They have come at the sound of 

 my voice, dancing upon their sheeted web like one gone 

 mad, so perfectly carried away with delight. An interesting 

 experience of last summer during a brief stay in the country 

 seems apropos at this time. While sauntering carelessly along 

 a forest-road I came unexpectedly upon a rustic bridge, with 

 a railing on one side, which overspanned a small water- 

 course. Leaning for rest and support against the railing, 

 soon my attention was arrested by a huge female spider, 



