NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Description Residence. 



The webs of spiders have been found in some 

 places in the forests of Java, woven with threads 

 of so strong a texture as not easily to be divided 

 without a knife. 



THE TARANTULA 



IS somewhat more than an inch in length, 

 and has its breast and belly of an ash color; its 

 legs are likewise ash-colored,, with blackish rings 

 on the under part. Its fangs are red within. 

 Two of its eyes are red, larger than the others, 

 and placed in the front ; four other eyes are 

 placed in a transverse direction towards the 

 mouth ; the other two are nearer the back. It 

 has two antennae, or feelers. 



The tarantula is a native of Italy, Cyprus, 

 Barbary, and the East Indies. It lives in fields, 

 and its dwelling is about four inches deep, half 

 an inch wide, and closed at the mouth with a 

 net. At the bottom this is curved ; and there 

 the insect sits in wet weather, and from thence 

 cuts its way out, if water gain upon it. It weaves 

 a net at the mouth of the hole. These spiders do 

 not live quite a year ; they lay about 730 eggs, 

 which are hatched in the spring. The parents 

 never survive the winter. 



The bite of the tarantula is said to occasion 

 an inflammation in the part, which in a few 



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