0irttan<crii af &m'nr.trtt $aturc. 637 i 



consequence of the wound, and the corrosive 

 | juice communicated to it ; the wounded part 

 i becoming inflamed, and swelling. The larger 

 I the Spider, the warmer the climate or season 

 of the year, and the more susceptible the 

 j wounded individual, so much worse will the 

 effects be ; and it is therefore no wonder that 

 i people who would have a fester from a simple 

 i prick with a needle, should feel more violent 

 effects from the bite of a Spider. Thus the 

 i bite of the Tarantula in southern Italy, 

 I namely Apulia, according to late observa- 

 tions, is said not to be nearly so dangerous 

 as it was considered formerly, and the dis- 

 ease attributed to the bite of the Tarantula 

 I is said to be more the consequence of the 

 climate and manner of life of the people. 

 It is, however, an indisputable fact that 

 Spiders defend themselves when they are 

 persecuted and captured, bite with their 

 c/icUe, and drop into the wound a more or 

 less poisonous juice, although the conse- 

 quences are very seldom dangerous." 



RKD SIMDKI:. There is a small Tick, so com- 

 monly called the Red Spider (Acurus tela- 

 rins), that it may be described here. It is 

 scarcely visible to the naked eye, and does 

 considerable injury to various plants in warm 

 dry summers. It is also called the Plant 

 Mite. Like most of the A rachnidie, it has 

 eight legs ; its colour changes from yel- 

 lowish to brown and reddish, and on each 

 side of the back is a blackish spot. In the 

 open air it usually attacks kidney-beans. 

 Among tres, the young limes principally 

 suffer, and the Mites are found in thousands 

 on the under side of the leaves These 

 leaves assume a dirty yellow or brownish 

 appearance, and in the" middle of summer 

 the trees acquire an autumnal hue. In hot- 

 houses the Red Spider feeds during the whole 

 year, and is a great pest to nurserymen and 

 gardeners. It spins a sort of web over the 

 I leaves, particularly on the under surface, 

 and sucks the juice of the plants with its 

 I rostrum, which completely enfeebles and 

 I defoliates them. Vincent KMlar says that 

 frequently sprinkling the plants with cold 

 i water has been found efficient as a means of 

 j destroying these insects : fumigating the 

 I hot-house repeatedly with strong tobacco 

 I smoke also injures them in some degree. 

 I They are most abundant when the plants 

 I are kept too warm in summer ; and as most 

 i hot-house plants thrive well when placed in 

 j the open air in July and August, placing 

 j them out will almost entirely free them from 

 these insects. When hot-house plants are 

 ! placed in the open air, the precaution must 

 be taken of sinking the pots in a warm dung 

 or tan-bed to keep the roots warm. The 

 ! roots 

 will defy 



likely to be exposed to in summer. For 

 kidney-beans that are trained on sticks in | 

 the open air, it is necessary in autumn and 

 ' winter to cleanse the sticks from all loose 

 ! rind, as the Mites take up their winter 

 I quarters within it, in whole families, and if 

 I they are not destroyed, proceed from it to 

 I the" young plants the ensuing spring. The 

 i history of Spiders by the Baron Walckenaer 

 I is the best that has yet been published. 

 I . 



being preserved in this way, the plants 

 defy the coldest weather they are ever 



SPIDER MONKEY. (A teles.} The spe- 

 cies In-longing to this genus of the Quad- | 

 riimana are called Spider Monkeys, from j 

 their long slender limbs, and sprawling 



rnovementi. They exhibit some remarkable 

 resemblances to the human conformation in 

 their muscles, and, of all animals, alone 

 have the biceps of the thigh like that of a 

 man. They accordingly make little use of 

 their fore-hands in progression. Their co- 

 lours are chiefly or wholly black, or fulvous- 

 gray ; face black, or flesh-coloured. They ; 

 are gentle and confiding, and capable of 

 much attachment. 



SPIRULA : SPIRULTD.S:. A genus and 

 family of Dibranchiate Cephalopoda. Ac- j 

 cording to the judgment of J. E. Gray, Esq., j 

 of the British Museum, " there is every reason 

 to believe that the Spirula is the nearest 

 recent ally of the Ammonites, so abundant 

 and so numerous in kinds, found in the dif- j 

 ferent fossilifcrous strata." "The animal," 

 Mr. Gray observes, "has all the general ex- , 

 tcnittl characters of the cuttle-fish ; that is 



to say, it has a large distinct head with eyes 

 on each side, eight short conical arms with 

 series of small discs on the inner side, two 

 long arms with elongated peduncles, and a 

 bag-like mantle with a process in the middle 

 above, and one on each side of the anal tube 

 below ; but it differs from the cuttle-fish in 

 being entirely destitute of any fins, being 

 rather compressed behind, and showing in 

 the specimen under examination a part of 

 the whorls of the shell above and below ; but 

 from the ragged edges of the skin it appears 

 as if this shell was covered with a skin when 

 the animal is alive, and that the exposure of 



3 I 



