264 INSECTS. 



and fize, rcfemble the (hell of a lobfter, and adequately defend them 

 from injuries, particularly from the attacks of each other. Within this 

 they grow, till their fize exceeds that of their covering, then it burfts, 

 and they acquire one more proportionate. Their ftrength is, for their 

 fize, almoft beyond credibility. A flea will draw a chain an hundred 

 times heavier than itfelf, as it will alfo eat ten times its own fize of pro- 

 vifion in a day. 



THE SPIDER. 



FORMED for rapacity, and living only on infed food, all its habits 

 are calculated to deceive and furprife ; it fpreads toils to entangle 

 its prey; is endued with patience to await its coming ; and has arms and 

 ftrength to deftroy it when enfnared. 



The houfe-fpider, which weaves its web in negleded rooms ; the 

 garden-fpider, that fpreads its toils from tree to tree, and refls in the 

 centre ; the wandering-fpider, that has no fettled abode ; and the field- 

 fpider, that is fometimes fcen mounting, web and all, into the clouds, 

 are the chief of our native fpiders, and, though reputed venomous, ar"fc 

 inoffenfive. But in Africa and America, in regions where all infeds ac- 

 quire their greateft growth, where the butterfly expands a-wing like our 

 fparrow^s, and the ant builds habitations as tall as a man, their fpiders 

 bear a proportionable magnitude. The Martinico fpider's body equals 

 a hen's egg, and is covered with hair. Its web is ftrong, and its bite 

 dangerous. 



Spiders have two divifions in the body. The fore parr, containing 

 the head and breaft, feparated from the hinder part or belly by a flender 

 thread, through which is a communication from one part to the other. 

 T^he fore part is covered with a hard fliell, as alfo the legs, which unite to 

 the breafl:. The hinder part has a fupple fl<in, befet with hair. They 

 have feveral eyes round the head, brilliant and acute , fometimes eight, 

 fometimes fix; two behind, two before, the reft on each fide. Their 

 eyes are immoveable, and wane eye-lids. They have two pincers on the 

 fore part of the head, rough, with ftrong points, toothed like a faw, and 

 terminating in claws j near the point of the claw^ a fmail hole emits a 



poifon. 



