papular SKctiomtrn af ftmmatrtr $ature, 635 



new thread at every turn, until, sometimes, 

 the insect is completely coated, and it may 

 be devoured at pleasure. Some Spiders spin 

 an irregular web, consisting of threads in- 

 tersecting each other at every angle : others, 

 aga.r.,make a horizontal,closely-rnattedweb, 

 having a funnel-shaped retreat, into which 

 they convey their prey: while others make 

 only a retreat by binding a few leaves to- 

 gether, from which they sally forth and seize 

 insects which approach them. Some of these 



in this the e> 

 can exceed 



are deposited ; and nothing 

 concent and industry which 



seem to be extremely venomous ; for it is 

 observed that no insect that has been once 

 bitten by them, ever recovers, even though 

 it be many times larger and more powerful 

 than its adversary. Some are aquatic, and 

 spin a cup-like web, which answers the pur- 

 pose of a diving-bell, under which they dis- 

 engage the air they bring down from the 

 surface, and pass their lives feeding on 

 aquatic insects. Some Spiders spin no web, 

 but take their prey by running ; others by 

 approaching quietly till within a certain 

 distance, when they suddenly leap upon their 

 prey : other Spiders form perpendicular and 

 cylindrical holes in the ground, into which 

 they retreat on the approach of danger. 



The female Spider generally lays nearly a 

 thousand eggs in a season ; which are sepa- 

 rated from each other by a glutinous sub- 

 stanoe. These eggs are small or large in 

 proportion to the size of the animal that 

 produces them. In some they are as large 

 as a grain of mustard-seed ; but in others 

 they are too minute to be distinctly visible. 

 The female never begins to lay till she is two 

 years old ; and her first brood is never so 

 numerous as when she arrives at full ma- 



ic of a giant of whom in early life 

 all read. It was built on the tops 

 ass, Jlolctu lanatu*, more 



turity. When the eggs have continued to | than a foot above the ground. Had he built 

 dry for an hour or two after exclusion, the ' 

 Spider prepares a bag for their reception, 

 where they remain to be hatched till they 

 leave the shell. For this purpose she spins 

 a web four or five times stronger than that 

 ! intended for the catching of flies. This bag, 

 i when completed, is as thick as paper, smooth 

 on the inside, but somewhat rough without : 



the parent manifests in the preservation of 

 it : by means of the glutinous fluid, it is 

 stuck to the extremity of her body ; so that, 

 when thus loaded, she appears as if double. 

 If the bag should happen by any accident to 

 be separated from her, all her assiduity is 

 employed to fix it again in its former situa- 

 tion ; and this precious treasure she seldom 

 abandons but with her life. When the 

 young are excluded from their shells within 

 the bag, they remain for some time in their 

 confinement ; till the female, instinctively 

 knowing their maturity, bites open their 

 prison, and sets them at liberty. But her 

 parental care does not terminate with their 

 exclusion : she receives them on her back 

 from time to time ; till having acquired suf- 

 ficient strength to provide for themselves, 

 they leave her to return no more, and each 

 commences a web for itself. The young 

 ones begin to spin when they are scarcely 

 large enough to be discerned ; and discover 

 their propensity to a life of plunder before 

 Nature has conferred on them strength for 

 the conquest. 



In Mr. Low's ' Sarawak ' it is said that, 

 "the Spiders, so disgusting in their appear- 

 ance in many other countries, are in Borneo 

 of quite a different nature, and are the most 

 beautiful of the insect tribe. They have a 

 skin of a shell -like texture, furnished with 

 curious processes, in some long, in others 

 short, in some few, in others numerous ; but 

 are found of this description only in thick 

 woods and shady places. Their colours are 

 of every hue, brilliant and metallic as the 

 feathers of the humming-bird, but are, unlike 

 the bright colours of the beetle, totally de- 

 pendent on the life of the insect which they 

 beautify ; so that it is impossible to preserve 

 them." 



In the 'Excursions to Arran,' by the Rev. 

 David Landsborough, we find an account of 

 the persevering labours of an Epcira, " who 

 had pitched his tent by the way-side," which, 

 in our opinion, is sufficiently interesting to 

 warrant us in extracting nearly the whole of 

 it. " The Spider is in kings' palaces ; " and 

 kings and queens too may learn a lesson 

 from it, and so, surely, may we. Spiders 

 have not got justice done to them : they are 

 a much more interesting race than many 

 suppose. They improve on acquaintance : 

 the better they are known, the more they 

 are admired. At that time a whole colony 

 of them were encamped by the road-side, 

 within the compass of half a mile. "As he 

 was rather a gigantic Spider, his tent, instead 

 of being on the ground, was elevated, like 

 the house of a ' 

 we have 



of the common gross, IIolcus lanatus, more 

 " n a foot above the ground. Had he built 

 his house on the top of one stalk of grass 

 the house and its inhabitant might have 

 borne down a single slender stalk. But he 

 had contrived to bring together several heads 

 whose roots stood apart, and, with cordage 

 which he could furnish at will, had bound 

 them firmly together, so that his elevated 

 habitation was anchored on all sides. From 



