308 ARTICULATA. ARACHNIDA. 



Phalangium,* the Shepherd-Spider. 



In these animals, familiarly called Father-long- 

 legs, and Harvest-men, we find the abdomen no 

 longer distinct from the trunk, but the whole body 

 assuming a rounded or oval form. They are fur- 

 nished with crooked antenna which take the form of 

 pincers ; the palpi are merely pointed ; they have 

 eight legs, of great length and slenderness, which 

 will move for a long time after being separated from 

 the body ; they have but two eyes. They are very 

 common, especially in autumn ; are carnivorous in 

 their habits, feeding on small Insects, which they ap- 

 pear to overtake by swiftness of foot. 



Acarus,^- the Mite. 



Most of these animals are so small as to be almost 

 invisible without a microscope. Their body is un- 

 divided, their legs short ; they have two pincers, but 

 very small, and no visible palpi. Some of them, as 

 the Cheese-mite (A. Siro\ devour the food of man, 

 in which they multiply prodigiously. Others attack 

 living animals and even man himself, insinuating 

 themselves beneath the skin, and causing trouble- 

 some diseases, as that of the itch, (A. Scabiei,} and 

 even producing incurable and fatal ulcers. So mi- 

 nute and feeble an instrument may execute the 

 punitive designs of God ! 



* $aXay!;, phalanx^ a kind of Spider.] 



j* "Axct(i) akari, an exceedingly minute animal. 



