AftACHNIDA. 61 



CHAPTER I. 



OBJECTS FROM THE ARACHNIDA. 



SPIDEIi'S FOOT, JAWS, SPINNABETS, EYES, EPIDEEMIS. 



SPIDER'S FOOT. 



This favorite object should always have three com- 

 panions in its box a preparation of Spider's eyes, Spider's 

 jaws,, and Spider's spinnarets, therefore I shall say some- 

 thing of each of these, and also a little of spiders them- 

 selves. We are so familiar with them, so apt to dislike 

 them in the house and overlook them in the garden, that 

 it will be well to learn somewhat of their history. 



Pew persons realise the dignified position they hold in 

 the order of creation. They are called insects; and are 

 certainly not considered so aristocratic as Butterflies, or so 

 grand as the great Beetles; perhaps a little higher than 

 the Fly they so cunningly ensnare. Therefore let us con- 

 sider the Spider as a whole before we examine his foot. 



The Spider is not an insect. It ranks higher than any 

 insect, no matter how large or how beautiful ; and this on 

 good grounds. In all God's works a perfect plan and 

 regular order are established, and the organization of 

 living creatures is gradually perfected, from the lowest 

 form of animal life in the simple ciliated monad, up to 

 the elaborate anatomy of man. Now the Spider might be 

 aninsect if we strictly adhered to the meaning of the term 

 ln-secta (divided into parts) ; but as its internal anatomy 

 is more perfect, its respiratory apparatus, its circulation, 

 and mode of reproduction, superior to those in any of the 

 twelve orders of insects, the Spiders are called 



ARACHNIDA, 



and placed above them in natural order. 



The Arachnida have oval or round bodies; the head, 

 which is joined to the thorax, has simple eyes, which in 



