WEB OF THE. THOMISUS. 501 
compared with those of the female, all courtship is conducted under the most unexpected 
difficulties. A male in love is equally a male in a fright, for if his addresses are not received 
favorably, he runs a great chance of being eaten on the spot. And even when he has not been 
repulsed, he still stands in great danger; for many of the Arachnidan beauties are as cruelly 
deceitful as the enchantress of the ‘* Arabian Nights,’’ and kill their lovers ruthlessly as soon 
as they have granted their prayers. So, as Alphonse Karr well remarks, the stereotyped 
exclamation of ‘‘ Love me, or I die!’ is by no means a metaphor, but a simple enunciation 
of a fact. 
When Spiders of nearly equal powers fight with each other, the battle rages vehemently, 
and if the weaker can escape with life, it is sure to have lost several of its limbs. As with the 
crustaceans, however, the deprivation is only temporary, for the severed members are repro- 
duced ; and though they hardly seem to attain the same dimensions as the original limbs, are 
vet to a degree serviceable. 
The Spiders belonging to the genus Thomisus are, like the hunting-spiders, dependent 
for their subsistence on 28 
their bodily powers and 
activity. Some, which 
are rather slow of limb, 
are in the habit of con- 
cealing themselves un- 
der leaves or in crevices, 
and thence pouncing 
suddenly on the insects 
that venture too near 
the treacherous pre- 
cincts, but the gener- 
ality are active creat- 
ures, running about 
swiftly, and much re- 
sembling the saltici in 
their movements. Some- St ici had ane 
times these creatures 
are popularly called Crab-spiders, because they can move in any direction without needing to 
turn their bodies. 
Fig. A of the accompanying illustration shows one of the common species of Thomisus. 
It is mostly found on the ground, or lurking among the foliage of old pasture-land. In its 
color, and indeed in its whole appearance, it is singularly variable, and exhibits so many 
differences that the simple varieties have been treated by several zoologists as distinct 
species. 
This is one of the many species which, when young, is accustomed to take aérial excur- 
sions, and to form that delicate substance popularly known as ‘‘gossamer.’? There is no 
gossamer spider, as is generally supposed, but many species are in the habit of spinning long 
loose threads and allowing themselves to be wafted into the air. Lycose are very fond of the 
same curious habit. Sometimes these gossamer webs, each with its minute aGronaut, may be 
seen floating by thousands in the air, glittering with iridescent light as the morning sun- 
beams fall on them, and covering the fields with their pearl-strung threads as far as the 
eye can reach. 
The whole question of the spider’s web is very curious and interesting ; and although our 
fast waning space will not permit of a full description, a few lines must still be granted 
to these beautiful structures. 
The web is produced primarily from a fluid contained within the body of the spider, and 
secreted within certain glands, varying in number and dimensions according to the species. 
Like the thread of the silkworm, this substance becomes hard on exposure to the atmos- 
phere, and is drawn out through tubes of exceeding minuteness. In the silkworm, these 

C. Thémisus cambridgii. B. Thomisue citreus. (Female. 
E. Arkys lancier. D. Thémisus citreus. (Male.) 
