TEGENERIA MEDICINALIS. 



and repassing on it, strengthens the thread in such a manner 

 as to answer all its intentions. The first cord being thus 

 stretched, the spider walks along a part of it, and there fas- 

 tens another ; and, dropping thence, affixes the thread to 

 some solid body below, then climbs up again and begins a 

 third, which it fastens by a similar contrivance. When these 

 threads are thus fixed, it forms a figure somewhat resembling 

 a square, and in this the animal is generally found to reside. 

 It often happens, however, when the young spider begins 

 spinning, that its web becomes too buoyant, and not only the 

 web floats in the air, but the spinner also. The struggles of 

 an entangled insect communicate an undulatory motion to 

 the whole web, which gives notice to the spider, who imme- 

 diately sallies forth, and, if his victim be small, seizes it at 

 once and sucks its blood ; if, however, it is too large to be 

 thus disposed of, the spider rolls it with his hinder foot, encir- 

 cling it with a new thread at every turn, until sometimes the 

 insect is completely coated, and it may be devoured at pleas- 

 ure. Some spiders spin an irregular web, consisting of 

 threads intersecting each other at every angle ; others, again, 

 make a horizontal, closely matted web, having a funnel- 

 shaped retreat, into which they convey their prey ; while 

 others make only a retreat by binding a few leaves together, 

 from which they sally forth and seize insects which approach 

 them. Some of these seem to be extremely venomous, for it 

 is observed that no insect that has been once bitten by them 

 ever recovers, even though it be many times larger and more 

 powerful than its adversary. Some are aquatic and spin a 

 cup-like web, which answers the purpose of a diving bell, 

 under which they disengage the air they bring down from the 

 surface, and pass their lives feeding on aquatic insects. Some 

 spiders spin no web, but take their prey by running; others 

 by approaching quietly till within a certain distance, when 

 they suddenly leap upon their prey ; other spiders form per- 

 pendicular and cylindrical holes in the ground, into which 

 they retreat on the approach of danger. 



The female spider generally lays nearly a thousand eggs in 

 a season, which are separated from each other by a gluti- 

 nous substance. These eggs are small or large in proportion 

 to the size of the animal that produces them. In some they 

 are as large as a grain of mustard-seed, but in others they 

 are too minute to be distinctly visible. The female never 



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