Objects for the Microscope. 57 



CHAPTER I. 



OBJECTS FROM THE ARACHNIDA. 

 SPIDER'S FOOT, JAWS, SPIXNARETS, EYES, EPIDERMIS. 



THIS favourite object should always have three companions 

 in its box a preparation of Spider's eyes, Spider's jaws, 

 and Spider's spinnarets, therefore I shall say something 

 of each of these, and also a little of Spiders themselves. 

 We are so familiar with them, so apt to dislike them in the 

 house and overlook them in the garden, that it will be well 

 to learn somewhat of their history. 



Few persons realize the dignified position they hold in 

 the order of creation. They are called insects; and are 

 certainly not considered so aristocratic- as Butterflies, or so 

 grand as the great Beetles ; perhaps a little higher than the 

 Fly they so cunningly ensnare. Therefore let us consider 

 the Spider as a whole before we examine his foot. 



TJie Spider is not an insect. It ranks higher than any 

 insect, no matter how large or how beautiful ; and this on 

 good grounds. In all God's works a perfect plan and 

 regular order are established, and the organization of 

 living creatures is gradually perfected, from the lowest 

 form of animal life in the simple ciliated monad, up to 

 the elaborate anatomy of man. Now the Spider might be 

 an insect if we strictly adhered to the meaning of the term 

 in-secta (divided into parts) ; but as its internal anatomy is 

 more perfect, its respiratory apparatus, its circulation, and 

 mode of reproduction, superior to those in any of the 

 twelve orders of insects, the Spiders are called 



ARACHNIDA, 



and placed above them in natural order. 



The Arachnida have oval or round bodies; the head, 

 which is joined to the thorax, has simple eyes, which in 



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