444 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. 



Well authenticated cases of self hypnotism, far more striking than 

 these, are recorded as occurring in India. One was seen by Captain Os- 



born a fakir who buried himself alive at the court of Runjeet 

 yp ~ Singh for six weeks. Another was observed by Sir C. E. Trev- 



elyan, of a fakir who buried himself for ten days. 1 In these 

 cases transition from the normal condition of life to the appearance of 

 death was gradual, but was undoubtedly voluntary. 



Most persons are acquainted with the paralyzing influence of fear, or 

 the sudden excitation of emotions of any kind, whether sorrowful or joyful, 



upon the human mind. The most quick witted are subject there- 



Symp- ^ o ^ an( j persons with more sluggish intellect are even more af- 



oms fected thereby; but the symptoms of this action, so far as I 



Paralysis nave been able to study them in human subjects, are wholly 



different from those which I have observed in the case of spi- 

 ders. Of course, the vast difference of grade between the two creatures 

 in the order of organization and intellect may be considered quite suffi- 

 cient reason for this ; yet one might be excused for expecting that there 

 would at least be so much of analogy between the two as to form a basis 

 for judgment. In the absence of such analogy I must adhere to my opin- 

 ion that the behavior of the spider is a genuine case of voluntary death 

 feigning. One who has observed the process will come to the conclusion 

 that Arachne's histrionic abilities are of no mean grade. 



The purpose of this habit is undoubtedly protective. I have often 

 been deprived of coveted specimens by their sudden exit from the web 



just as I was about 'to seize them, and, although I knew thor- 

 Purpose OU ghly their habit, and just where to look for them in the grass 

 Habit beneath the snare, I have frequently been disappointed in my 



search. One may, therefore, well conceive the amazement, or 

 whatever emotion there .may be akin to that within the minds of lower 

 animals, that seizes upon the raiding bird or wasp which darts, with 

 seeming good aim, at the plump prize in the centre of the snare, and finds 

 beak and claws grasping empty air or seizing only strands of the still 

 quivering web. One might carry the fancy still further, and imagine 

 how the spider from its grassy shelter must laugh, or go through what- 

 ever intellectual process may be analogous to that action in the spider 

 brain, when it thinks of the discomfiture of its enemy as it flies empty 

 away ! 



When we come to think of the origin of this habit, perhaps, we may 

 be justified in giving some place to the theory of fright paralysis: 2 Pos- 

 sibly the success in escaping hostile attacks experienced by some remote 



1 See observations on Trance or Human Hibernation, by James Baird, M. R., C. S. E., 

 C. M. W. S., London, 1850. 



2 Romanes, Mental Evolution in Animals, page 308. 



