1 2 The Life of a Spider 



gave him. After killing his victim with the 

 fangs of his mandibles, he was not satisfied, 

 like most Spiders, to suck her head : he chewed 

 her whole body, shoving it piecemeal into his 

 mouth with his palpi, after which he threw up 

 the masticated teguments and swept them away 

 from his lodging. 



' Having finished his meal, he nearly always 

 made his toilet, which consisted in brushing 

 his palpi and mandibles, both inside and out, 

 with his front tarsi. After that, he resumed 

 his air of motionless gravity. The evening and 

 the night were his time for taking his walks 

 abroad. I often heard him scratching the 

 paper of the bag. These habits confirm the 

 opinion, which I have already expressed else- 

 where, that most Spiders have the faculty of 

 seeing by day and night, like cats. 



' On the 28th of June, my Tarantula cast his 

 skin. It was his last moult and did not per- 

 ceptibly alter either the colour of his attire or 

 the dimensions of his body. On the 14th of 

 July, I had to leave Valencia ; and I stayed 

 away until the 23rd. During this time, the 

 Tarantula fasted ; I found him looking quite 



