636 



Creatfttrn of Datura! 



whatever ciirt the wind blew, it had at once 

 halser and stay. Not only did lie bind the 

 heads together, but he bent, doubled, and 

 fastened them down as a thatch roof, under 

 which his habitation was suspended. As he 

 was a larger Spider than usual, his house 

 was large ; the more capacious apartment, 

 which I believe was the nursery, being below; 

 and the smaller one, which was his obser- 

 vatory or watch-tower, being above, from 

 which he could pounce on his prey, or, in 

 case of hostile attack, could make his escape 

 by a postern gate, so as to conceal himself 

 among the grass. 



" During my visit in June last, I was 

 anxious, as we returned from Whiting Bay, 

 to ascertain whether this interesting colony 

 of tent-makers was still in a thriving state ; 

 and not seeing any at first, I began to fear 

 that a Highland clearance had taken place. 

 When I at last discovered a few of them, I 

 saw that, as there are times of low trade 

 among our industrious two-footed artizans 

 in towns, so are there occasionally hard times 

 among our six-footed operatives in the 

 country. The field in which they encamped 

 had, I suppose, been overstocked. The 

 stately Holcus had been eaten down ; but 

 these shifty children of the mist had availed 

 themselves of the heather doubling down 

 the tops of some of the heath-sprigs, and 

 under this thatched canopy forming their 

 suspension-tabernacles. As yet, however, it 

 was too early in the season. The house had 

 only one apartment j the web of which it 

 was formed was as yet thin, so that through 

 it I could see the Spider, which being but 

 half grown, had not yet got in perfection its 

 fine tiger-like markings. ' Go to the ant, 

 thou sluggard ; ' go also to the Spider. He 

 who taught the one taught the other ; and, 

 learning humility, let both teach thee. 



" I said that kings might learn of the 

 Spider ; and one of the greatest of our Scot- 

 tish kings, some five hundred years ago, dis- 

 dained not to learn of an Arran Spider in the 

 very district in which this Spider is found. 

 The tradition still lingers in Arran, that 

 King's-cross-point was so named, because 

 from this point in Arran, King Robert the 

 Bruce sailed for Carrick, his own district in 

 Ayrshire. When he was, by a train of ad- 

 verse circumstances, almost driven to despair, 

 it is said that after a sleepless night, in a 

 humble cot on this rocky point, he in the 

 morning observed from his lowly bed a Spider 

 actively employed in weaving her silken 

 web. To make it firm and extensive, she 

 endeavoured to fasten her filmy threads on a 

 beam projecting from the roof, but in attempt- 

 ing to reach this beam she fell down to the 

 ground. Six times she repeated the attempt 

 with no better success, but instead of being 

 discouraged, she made a seventh attempt 

 reached the wished-for point, fastened her 

 adhesive cords, and went triumphantly on 

 with her work. On observing this, the King 

 sprang up with reviving hopes and fresh reso- 

 lution. ' Shall I,* said he, ' be more easily 

 discouraged than this reptile ? Shall she, 

 in spite of repeated failures, persevere till 

 crowned with success, though her object is to 

 enslave and destroy ? and shall I leave any- 



thing untried that I may deliver from 

 thraldom my oppressed subjects ? ' He 

 hastened to the beach, launched a fishing- 

 boat, sailed from Kiny's-cross-point for Ayr- 

 shire, which he reached in safety secretly 

 assembled his liege men in Carrick made a 

 bold, and sudden, and successful attack on 

 his own castle of Turnberry, which he took 

 from the vanquished English garrison ; and, 

 following up this auspicious blow, he ad- 

 vanced on the side of victory, till, at Bannock- 

 burn, he drove the cruel invaders from the 

 land, and set once more our beloved Scotland 

 free." 



As we have already seen, the species are 

 very numerous ; some differing widely from 

 others ; but the space we have already occu- 

 pied compels us to confine ourselves, in the 

 present instance, to the general description 

 we have already given of their structure, 

 habits, &c. One particularity, however, in 

 the history of Spiders remains to be noticed, 

 which is their power of flight. This is chiefly 

 exercised by those of minute size. It is 

 principally in the autumnal season that these 

 diminutive adventurers ascend the air, and 

 contribute to fill it with that infinity of float- 

 ing cobwebs which are so peculiarly con- 

 spicuous at that period of the year. When 

 inclined to make these aorial excursions, the 

 Spider ascends some slight eminence, as the 

 top of a wall, or the branch of a tree, and, 

 turning itself with its head towards the wind, 

 darts out several threads from its papillae, 

 and, rising from its station commits itself to 

 the gale, and is thus carried far beyond the 

 height of the loftiest towers. During their 

 flight it is probable that Spiders employ 

 themselves in catching such minute winged 

 insects as may happen to occur in their pro- 

 gress ; and when satisfied with their journey 

 and their prey, they suffer themselves to fall, 

 by contracting their limbs, and gradually 

 disengaging themselves from the thread that 

 supports them. 



" We read in various works," says Vincent 

 Ko'llar, " that Spiders often eject a corrosive 

 poisonous juice, in consequence of which the 

 joints become inflamed and swelled ; and 

 even that the crawling of a Spider is sufficient 

 to cause inflammation in the parts which it 

 touches. It might perhaps be too rash to 

 contradict the assertions of many writers, 

 but I have never found these observations 

 adduced by men who have been exclusively 

 occupied with the study of Spiders, nor have 

 I ever experienced any thing of this kind 

 myself throughout the many years in which 

 I have been engaged in studying insects and 

 spiders. All Spiders are, however, insects of 

 prey, and feed on other insects, which they 

 catch alive, kill, and then suck out their 

 fluids. For this end they are mostly pro- 

 vided with very strong chelae or mandibles. 

 These chelae are of a horny substance, bent 

 inwards, hollow, and provided with an 

 opening at the top, and are connected with 

 glands, which secrete a corrosive juice. They 

 discharge this juice into the captured insects 

 they have wounded, apparently to kill them 

 sooner. The same thing happens when they 

 wound a person who has caught one, and 

 gives it pain. Pain will naturally be the 



