THE SPIDER KIND. 



747 



If we consider this class as distinct from 

 others, we shall find them in general longer 

 lived than the rest, and often continuing their 

 term beyond one season, which is the ordinary 

 period of an insect's existence. They seem 

 also teas subject to the influence of the weather ; 

 and often endure the rigours of winter without 

 being numbed into torpidity. The whole 

 race of moths, butterflies, bi'es, and flies, are 

 rendered lifeless, by the return of cold wea- 

 ther ; but we need not be told, that the louse, 

 th H;M, and many of these wingless creatures 

 that seem formed to teaze mankind, continue 

 their painful depredations the whole year round. 



They come to perfection in the egg, as was 

 said before; and it sometimes happens, that 

 when the animal is interrupted in performing 

 the offices of exclusion, the young ones burst 

 the shell within the parent's body, and are 

 thus brought forth alive. This not unfrequent- 

 ly happens with the wood-louse, and others of 

 the kind, which are sometimes seen producing 

 eggs, and so uetimes young ones perfectly 

 formed. 



Though these creatures are perfect from the 



beginning, yet they are often, during their ex- 

 istence, seen to change their skin : this is a 

 faculty which they possess in common with 

 many of the higher ranks of animal.*, and 

 which answers the same purposes. However 

 tender their skins may seem to our feel, yet, if 

 compared to the animal's strength and size, 

 they will be found to resemble a coat of mail, 

 or, to talk more closely, the shell of a lobster. 

 By this skin these animals are defended from 

 accidental injuries, and particularly from the 

 attacks of each other. Within this they 

 continue to grow, till their bodies become so 

 large as to be imprisoned in their own cover- 

 ing, and then the shell bursts, but is quickly 

 replaced by a new one. 



Lastly, these animals are endued with a de- 

 gree of strength for their size, that at first might 

 exceed credibility. Had a man an equal de- 

 gree of strength, bulk for bulk, nith a louse, 

 or flea, the history of Samson would be no 

 longer miraculous. A flea will draw a chain 

 a hundred times hea\ier than itself; an. to 

 compensate for this force, will eat ten times its 

 own size of provision in a single day. 



9 



CHAPTER CLXIX. 



OF THE SPIDER AND ITS VARIETIES. 



THE animal that deserves our first notice 

 in tliis principal order of insects is the spider, 

 whose manners are, of all others, the most 

 subtle, and whose instincts are most various. 

 Formed for a life of rapacity, and incapable 

 of living upon any other than insect food, all 

 its habits are calculated to deceive and siir- 

 prisp ; it spreads toils to entangle its prey ; it 

 is endued with patience to expect its coming ; 

 and is possessed of arms and strength to de- 

 stroy it when fallen into the snare. 



In this country, where all the insect tribes 

 are kept under by human assiduity, the spiders 

 are but small and harmless. We are acquaint- 

 ed with few, but the house-spider, which 

 weaves its web in neglected rooms ; the gar- 

 den-spider, that spreads its toils from tree to 

 tree, and rests in the centre ; the wandering- 

 spider, that has no abode like the rest ; and 



wo. C3 & 64. 



the field-spider, that is sometimes seen mount- 

 ing, web and all, into the clouds. These are 

 the chief of our native spiders ; which, though 

 reputed venomous, are entirely inoffensive. 

 But they form a much more terrible tribe in 

 Africa and America. In those regions, w ! here 

 all the insect species acquire their greatest 

 growth, where the butterfly is seen to expand 

 a wing as broad as our sparrow, and the ant 

 to build a habitation as tall as a man, it is not 

 to be wondered at that the spiders are seen 

 bearing a proportionable magnitude. In fact, 

 the bottom of the Martinico spider's body is 

 as large as a hen's egg, and covered all over 

 with hair. Its web is strong, and its bite dan- 

 gerous. It is happy for us, however, that we 

 are placed at a distance from these formidable 

 creatures, and that we can examine their his- 

 tory without feeling their resentment. 



5M 



