A SPIDER'S INGENUITY in 



the latter was not to be beaten. It placed 

 itself above the body, with its eight long, thin 

 legs spread out like the shear-legs used for 

 lifting weights at ironworks. Then it lowered 

 its body until it was able to take hold of the 

 cockroach with its jaws. Having got a firm 

 hold, it slowly raised itself, until it lifted the 

 insect off the ground, and setting its legs in 

 motion, carefully bore away its load. It was 

 a remarkable example of the power of a spider 

 to apply its mind to the solution of a difficult 

 problem. It can hardly be said that these 

 phalangers are constantly in the way of raising 

 and bearing off such heavy and unwieldy 

 objects, or that its limbs are specially adapted 

 to act as a shear-legs, when the occasion 

 arises. I prefer to think that the spider 

 coveted the object, and applied some form 

 of reasoning to the determination of the 

 method most likely to attain the purpose. 



The German Cockroach (Phyllodrornia 

 yermanica), Plate IX., Fig. 5, may be recog- 

 nized by its smaller size, and the presence of 

 two dark bands on the thorax. In palm- 

 houses one occasionally sees the large Ship 

 Cockroach (Periplaneta americana) and the 



