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mology; yet their attachment to, and affection for, 

 their young command our admiration: one, for in- 

 stance, chose rather to be buried alive with her 

 ovarium, than relinquish the possession of it to an 

 ant lion. Its silken cocoon of ova is, to the spider, its 

 all ; it is its constant accompaniment, and it will part 

 with life sooner than resign this invaluable pearl. 

 They may be tamed, too, and are not insensible to the 

 kindness that supplies their wants. 



Spiders, it would seem, are not entirely without 

 their value in the arts : Bon, a Frenchman, obtained 

 several pairs of stockings from the webs of a particular 

 kind of spider, and had suggested their cultivation; 

 the idea, however, was finally abandoned, as they 

 made war on each other. In the British Museum, if 

 we remember right, is a small painting, the canvass 

 of which is a spider's web. A species of red spider 

 is said to have been used abroad in dyeing; and 

 in this country there is a minute species, with a 

 brilliant scarlet dress, which we have often met with 

 on the walls of Chester, though neither this nor the 

 murex is likely to supplant the cochineal. The Ba- 

 hama spider is described as two inches long. " He 

 hath two strong black shining teeth, like crooked 

 claws, standing parallel, and with their points down- 

 ward, above half an inch long by the bow. These 

 teeth, being set in gold, are used by some for tooth- 

 picks ! " * 



The mygale avicularia of South America is about 

 two inches long ; and we are assured by Straoss that it 

 certainly sucks the blood of the humming bird, and in 

 all probability entraps it in its web. Among the " Rari- 

 ties of Gresham College," there is stated to have been 



* Grew, quoted from Pen. Nat. Hist, 

 c 3 



