ARACHNIDA. 637 



Araneida, (Lat. araneida, a spider,) usually having eight feet, 

 (Plate XV. fig. 19b.) The palpi or feelers resemble small feet, 

 without a claw at the tip. The frontal ones are terminated by a 

 movable hook curving downwards, having on the under side a 

 slit for the emission of a poisonous fluid which is secreted in a 

 gland of the preceding joint. Though much is said of the ef- 

 fects of spider-bites, "there is still wanting evidence on which to 

 rest the charge of poisoning man by biting him," even against 

 spiders of tropical climates. Sometimes, however, the bite of 

 the larger ones produces unpleasant inflammation. At the same 

 time, people " have been known to eat them with bread, as a great 

 delicacy." 



The most remarkable office of spiders is that of weaving their 

 webs, by means of a silken thread drawn from fleshy warts sit- 

 uated on the abdomen, four to six in number, containing thou- 

 sands of openings, from each of which descends a thread, so 

 thin as to be invisible to the naked eye until all are formed into 

 a common thread. One set of warts or spinnerets is employed 

 in producing threads which are glutinous, while another set pro- 

 duces those which are smooth. This maybe shown by throwing 

 some dust upon a spider's web like that of the GARDEN SPIDER, 

 Epira (Gr. peiro, to affix,) diadema, which weaves one of the 

 strongest, when it will be found to adhere to those which are spi- 

 rally arranged, but not to those which radiate from the center, 

 which are the stronger ones. Their webs have been manufac- 

 tured into stockings and gloves ; to obtain one pound of spider's 

 silk, however, the webs of six hundred thousand spiders would 

 be needed. 



A curious thing in the natural history of spiders is their 

 power of reproducing their limbs after they have been broken 

 off; in such cases it is never a part of a leg which is reproduced ; 

 but if a part of a leg be removed, it proceeds to throw off the 

 residue, and after the next moult, the missing limb again appears. 



The Mason, or TRAP-DOOR SPIDER, Mygale, (Gr. mugale, a 

 mouse-spider,) ccementaria, constructs a sort of tube in which it 

 dwells and lies in wait for such animals as come within reach. 

 Some of the holes or tubes are closed by a trap door. The 

 largest species is found in South America. 



The Lycosa (Gr. lukos, a kind of spider,) tarantula, the TA- 

 RANTULA of Italy, is the poisonous species the bite of which, it 

 has been supposed, could be cured by music. Some species of 

 the same genus are found in the United States. 



The Pedipalpi, (Lat. feelers to the foot,) differ from the Spi- 

 ders proper, chiefly in the great development of the palpi or feel- 

 ers, which form long arms, ending in a pincer-like claw. 



