IN THE INVERTEBRATA. 57 



('Percy Anecdotes'). They are liable to be deceived and to 

 commit errors, but they discover and rectify their mistakes. 

 Some of them are bold and courageous ; hence the specific 

 name of one of them, Galeodes intrepida (Baird) . 



Others are weatherwise in a sense : they have a physical 

 presentiment of coming atmospheric changes, by being ex- 

 tremely sensitive to weather vicissitudes. These weather 

 changes produce an immediate effect on their habits, 

 inducing either industry or idleness, vivacity or languor, 

 as the case may be. As delicate indicators of weather 

 change, they are said to be superior to man's meteoro- 

 logical instruments ('Percy Anecdotes'). Lastly, they are 

 adepts at spinning or tapestry -weaving. The tarantula 

 spider and the scorpion sometimes attack man from revenge 

 or fear (Kirby and Spence). The scorpion is one of the 

 animals which seems deliberately to commit suicide by 

 stinging itself fatally, a circumstance that will be further 

 alluded to in the chapter on '* Suicide.' It does so under 

 the influence of such motives as fear or despair. Hou- 

 zeau describes memory as a characteristic of the Arachnida, 

 as well as a certain perception of time, inasmuch as they 

 observe regular feeding hours, a phenomenon also exhibited 

 by certain Crustacea. A writer in * Science Gossip ' describes 

 a trap-door spider as ' fairly trembling with excitement and 

 impatience ' on the approach of prey. 



Certain Centipedes, among the Myriapoda, sometimes 

 attack man from revenge or fear, as do also the tarantula 

 spider and scorpion (Kirby and Spence). But we know very 

 little of the mental characteristics of the Myriapoda. 



Of the class Insecta we know a great deal as to the mental 

 character of the bee, ant, and wasp, belonging to the order 

 Hymenoptera ; of the Termites, belonging to the order Neurop- 

 tera, and of many beetles representing the order Coleoptera. 

 So much has been written regarding the so-called instinct or 

 intelligence of the ant and the bee, so accessible are the works 

 of the Hubers, Kirby and Spence, Westwood, Wood, and other 

 authors, that it would be a waste of space to recapitulate 

 their descriptions here. But it would be equally improper 

 to dismiss the important class Insecta without illustrations 



