THE SPIDER KIND. 



as if she had one body placed behind another. 

 If this bag be separated from her by any ucci- 

 dent, she employs all her assiduity to stick it 

 again in its former situation, ami seldom aban- 

 dons her treasure but with her life. \V hen the 

 young ones are excluded from their shells, 

 within the bag, they remain for some time in 

 their confinement, until the female, instinctive- 

 ly knowing their maturity, bites open their 

 prison, and sets them free. But her parental 

 care does not terminate with their exclusion ; 

 she receives them upon her back for some 

 time, until they have strength to provide for 

 themselves, when they leave her never to re- 

 turn, and each begins a separate manufactory 

 of its own. The young ones begin to spin 

 when they can scarcely be discerned ; and 

 prepare for a life of plunder before they have 

 strength to overcome. Indeed, nature seems 

 to have formed them in every respect for a life 

 of hostility. No other insect is possessed of 

 such various powers of assault and defence ; 

 and they are able to destroy animals ten times 

 bigger tlian the nselves. Even after a severe 

 defeat, they quickly recover of their wounds; 

 and as for their leg^, they consider the loss of 

 them as but a small misfortune, as they grow 

 again very speedily to their former magni- 

 tude. 



Thus there is no insect to which they are 

 not an enemy ; but what is more barbarous 

 still, spiders are the enemies of each other. 

 Mr. Reau nur, who was fond of making expe- 

 riments upon insects, tried to turn the labours 

 of the spider to human advantage, and actual- 

 ly made a pair of gloves from their webs. 

 For this purpose, he collected a large number 

 of those insects together : he took care to have 

 them constantly supplied with Hies, and the 

 ends of young feathers, fresh picked from 

 chickens and pigeons, which being full of 

 blood, are a diet that spiders are particularly 

 fond of. But, notwithstanding all his cm 1 , 

 be was soon convinced tiiat it was impracti- 

 cable to rear them, since they were of such a 

 malignant nature, that they could never IK- 

 brought to live in society ; but instead of tlvir 

 usual food, chose to devour each other. In- 

 deed, were it practicable to reconcile them to 

 each other, it would require too much attend- 

 ance to rear up a sufficient number to make 

 the project any way useful. Their thread is 

 four, if not five times finer than that of the silk- 



worm ; so that upon the smallest calculation, 

 there must have been sixty thousand spiders to 

 make a single pound of silk. That which 

 Reaumur made use of was only the web in 

 which they deposited their eggs, which is five 

 times stronger than their ordinary manufac- 

 ture. 



Of this animal, there arc several kinds, 

 slightly differing from each other, either in 

 habits or conformation. The Water spider is 

 the most remarkable of the number. This 

 insect resembles the common spider in its ap- 

 pearnnce, except that its hinder part is made 

 rather in the shape of a nine-pin than a ball. 

 They differ in being able to live as well by 

 land as water ; and in being capable of spin- 

 ning as well in one element as the other. 

 Their appearance under water is very remark- 

 able; for though they inhabit the bottom, yet 

 they are never touched by the clement in 

 which they reside, but are enclosed in a bubble 

 of air that, like a box, surrounds them on 

 every side. This bubble has the bright ap- 

 pearance, at the bottom, of quicksilver; and 

 within this they perform their several func- 

 tions of eating, spinning, and sleeping, without 

 its ever busting, or in the least disturbing their 

 operations : sometimes, the bubble is seen 

 divided into three distinct apartments ; and 

 in the spring, the male enters one of those to 

 impregnate the female in the manner mention- 

 ed above, while the bubble in which he was 

 contained unites ith the oilier, like two drops 

 of water, when approached to each otl.er. 

 They spin their webs as well in the water as 

 upon land ; and it is most probable that they 

 make their food of the small insects of either 

 element. 



The Tarantula is also of this species, and 

 deserves particular notice, not for any remark- 

 able properties that really attend it, but for the 

 numerous falsehoods vt hich have been propa- 

 gated concerning it. What may be said with 

 tru:h concerning it is, that it is the larg< st of 

 the spller kii; I known in Europe, and is a 

 native of Apulia in Italy. Its body is three 

 quarters of an inch long, and about as thick 

 as one's little finger ; the colour is generally an 

 olive brown, variegated with one that is more 

 dusky ; it has eight legs and eight eyes, like 

 the rest, and nippers, which are sharp and ser- 

 rated : between these and the fore legs, there 

 are two little horns, or feelers, which it is 



