OF NATURAL HISTORY. 415 



^ mankind. They fupply us occafionally, and in feme coun- 

 tries, as Great-Britain and particularly Scotland, with abund- 

 ance of nourifhing and luxurious food ; and, if our fifheries 

 were once put upon a proper footing, they would foon confti-. 

 tute one of the mofl: powerful incentives to induftry, and be- 

 come a great and important fource of national ftrcngth and 

 profperity. 



The i?ife& tribes, though comparatively diminutive, are 

 not deficient in artifice and addrefs. With much art the 

 fpider fpins his web. It ferves him the double purpofe of an 

 habitation, and of a machine for catching his food. With 

 incredible patience and perfeverance he lies in the center of 

 his web for days, and fometimes for weeks, before an ill-fat- 

 ed fly happens to be entangled. One fpecies of -fpider, 

 which is fmall, of a blackifli colour, and frequents cottages 

 or out-houfes, I have known to live during the whole win- 

 ter months without almofl: the poflibility of receiving any 

 nourifliment ; for, during that period, not a fly of any kind 

 could be difcovered in the apartment. If they had been 

 fixed in a torpid ftate, like fome other animals, the wonder 

 of their furviving the want of food fo long would not have 

 been fo great. But in the fevereft weather, and through the 

 whole courfe of the winter, they were perfedlly adlive and 

 lively. Neither did they feem to be in the leaft emaciated. 



The formico-leoy or ant-lion, is a fmall infecH:, fomewhat re- 

 fembling a wood-loufe, but larger. Its head is flat, and arm- 

 ed with two fine moveable crotchets or pincers. It has fix 

 legs, and its body, which terminates in a point, is compofed 

 of a number of membranous rings. In the fand, or in finely 

 pulverifed earth, this animal digs a hole in the form of a fun- 

 nel, at the bottom of which it lies in ambufh for its prey. 

 As it always walks backward, it cannot purfue any infe£l:. To 

 fupply this defeat, it lays a fnare for them, efpecially for the 

 ant, which is its favourite food. It generally lies concealed 

 under the fand in the bottom of its funnel or trap, and fel- 



