31'2 AHACHN1DES. 



nothing to fear ; she only possesses the secret of the impenetrable emargina- 

 tion, and has the key to tliose which alone afford an entrance. When her 

 offspring are able to provide for themselves, they leave their native dwelling, 

 to establish elsewhere their individual habitations, while the mother returns to 

 it and dies it is thus her cradle and her tomb." 



There are several other genera of this section, such as Drassus, Segestria, 

 Clubona, &c., in the last of which, as well as in the following ones, we find 

 eight eyes. They form two families, the Terrestrial and Aquatic. Some 

 (Clubiona) construct silken tubes under stones ; and others (Aranea proper), 

 a web with a tube, in our houses, along hedges, &c. 



In the second section of the sedentary and rectigrade spiders, that of the 

 INEQUITELJE, the external papillae are nearly conical, project but little, are 

 convergent, and form a rosette ; the legs are very slender. The jaws incline 

 over die lip, and become narrower at their superior extremity, or at least do 

 not sensibly widen. 



Most of them have the first pair of legs longest, and then the fourth. The 

 abdomen is more voluminous, softer, and more coloured than in the preceding 

 tribes. Their webs form an irregular net composed of threads which cross 

 each other in every direction and on several planes. They lie in wait for their 

 prey, display much anxiety for the preservation of their eggs, and never 

 abandon them till they are hatched. They are short-lived. 



There are several genera, such as Scytodes, Theridion, Episinus, &c. dif- 

 fering in the number of eyes, and the mode of their arrangement ; the shape 

 of the thorax, &c. 



In the third section of the sedentary rectigrade spiders, the ORBITELVE, the 

 external fusi are almost conical, slightly salient, convergent, and form a rosette; 

 the legs are slender, as in the preceding section, but the jaws are straight, and 

 evidently wider at their extremity. 



The first pair of legs, and then the second, are always the longest. There 

 are eight eyes thus arranged ; four in the middle forming a quadrilateral, and 

 two on each side. 



The Orbitelsc approach the Inequitelse in the size, softness, and diversity of 

 colour of the abdomen, and in their short term of existence ; but their web is 

 a regular piece of net-work, composed of concentric circles intercepted by 

 straight radii diverging from the centre, where they almost always remain, 

 and in an inverted position, at the circumference. Some conceal themselves in 

 a cell or cavity which they have constructed near the margin of the web, which 

 is sometimes horizontal, and at others perpendicular. Their eggs are aggluti- 

 nated, very numerous, and inclosed in a voluminous cocoon. 



The threads which support the web, and which can be extended one-fifth 

 of their length, are used for the divisions of the micrometer. 



LlNYPHIA, Lilt it illi . 



The Liny phiiL* are well characterised by the disposition of their eyes : four 

 in the middle form a trapezium, the posterior side of which is widest, and is 

 occupied by two eyes much larger and more distant ; the remaining four are 



