412 THE MOUNTAIN. 



even occasionally proved fatal. We may, therefore, with- 

 out believing all the fabulous stories of Baglivi and others 

 respecting the bite of Tarantula, mistrust spiders, and par- 

 ticularly the larger ones." Various animals in turn prey on 

 spiders as part of their food, as birds, wasps, etc. Their 

 cocoons, or the sacks which contain their eggs, are familiar 

 to all. "The texture and form of these sacks are variously 

 modified, according to the habits of the race. They are 

 usually spheroidal ; some of them resemble a cap or tymbal, 

 some of them are claviform. They are sometimes partially 

 enveloped with foreign bodies, such as earth, leaves, etc. ; a 

 finer material, a sort of tow or down, frequently surrounds 

 the eggs in their interior, where they are free or aggluti- 

 nated, and more or less numerous." Spiders generally die 

 in winter, but some survive several years, as the Mygales, 

 Lycosse, etc. Notwithstanding the revolting and ferocious 

 character of the spider as generally estimated, touching 

 illustrations of the action of the most sacred of all in- 

 stincts, the maternal, have been observed and described by 

 naturalists. * 



The family Araneides is divided into a number of genera: 

 the Mygale, Crab-spiders, the Aranea, including the recti- 

 grade and sedentary spiders ; the Clotho, a peculiar group ; 

 the Tetragnatha, Uloborus, Linyphia, and Epeira, with Ly- 

 cosa, the common field or ground spider, familiar to all among 

 the clods. There are a number of this family on the moun- 

 tain. The species that weave their websf on the trees and 

 bushes abound, as may be experienced always by passing 

 through the woods where their invisible ropes, stretching 

 across large spaces, constantly tickle the face of the traveler. 

 The Lycosa are abundant in field and forest. 



* For example, see observations of Bonnet, on the Lycosa saccata, 

 referred to by Kirby and Spence, p. 204. 



j- "Leuwenhoeck has calculated that it would require four mil- 

 lions of the strands of the spider's web to form a thread as thick as 

 hair of his beard." 



