THE SPIDER. 151 



metamorphosis. The eggs are deposited in a delicate 

 soft sac spun by the female spider, and remain en- 

 closed in this until the hatching. Spiders that spin 

 webs fasten this sac to their dwellings, while migra- 

 tory spiders attach it to their abdomens and carry it 

 around with them. The hatching occurs in about a fort- 

 night, and the mother provides for her young until they 

 are able to take care of themselves ; then she abandons 

 them. When once the family bonds are broken, broth- 

 ers and sisters have no mercy one for the other, nor 

 would they receive any from the mother who has reared 

 them. 



The species of spiders are very numerous, and the 

 bites of very few of them produce any alarming symp- 

 toms. Among those whose bites appear dangerous most 

 prominent is the tarantula of the West Indies, whose 

 poison generally produces grave symptoms. The bite 

 of other spiders may occasion some swelling of the part 

 bitten, but usually there is no 

 general intoxication. The domes- FIG. 85. 



tic spiders that make their homes 

 in our dwellings usually select a 

 corner between the ceiling and 

 the walls ; they prefer stables, the 

 only places in which they ap- 

 pear to render service to men COMMON SPIDER. 

 by diminishing the number of 



insects that annoy cattle ; the spiders that infest cellars 

 are like the preceding. Then we have the field-spiders 

 that weave their nets in meadows and live in silk-lined 

 holes ; those that make between two branches of a tree 

 or bush vertical webs in very regular, circular, or po- 

 lygonal forms, and live in the centre ; lastly, the wolf- 



