

J.8 



NATURALISTS CABINET. 



General description. 



ral eyes all round the head, brilliant and acute ; 

 these are sometimes eight in number, sometimes 

 but six ; two behind, two before, and the rest on 

 each side. Like all other insects, their eyes are 

 immovable, and they want eye-lids; but this 

 organ is fortified with a transparent horny sub- 

 stance, which at once secures and assists their 

 vision. As the animal procures its subsistence 

 by the most watchful attention, so large a num- 

 ber of eyes was necessary to give it the earliest 

 information of the capture of its prey. They 

 have two pincers on the fore part of the head, 

 rough, with strong points, toothed like a saw, 

 and terminating in claws like those of a cat. A 

 little below the point of the claw there is a small 

 hole, through which the animal emits a poison, 

 which, though harmless to us, is sufficiently ca- 

 pable of iastantly destroying its prey. This is 

 the most powerful weapon they have against their 

 enemies ; they can open or extend these pincers 

 as occasion may require ; and when they are un- 

 disturbed, they suffer them to lie one upon the 

 other, never opening them but when there is a 

 necessity for their exertion. They have all eight 

 legs, jointed like those of lobsters, and similar 

 also in another respect ; for if a leg be torn away, 

 or a joint cut off, a new one will quickly grow ia 

 its place, and the animal will find itself fitted for 

 combat as before. At the end of each leg there 

 are three crooked movable claws ; namely, a 

 small one, placed higher up, like a cock's spur, 



