47$ THE HOUSE-SPIDER. 



ses, and not leaving in the purlieus any traces of her 

 barbarity capable of intimating the place of her re- 

 sort, ancl inspiring other insects with the dread of ap- 

 proaching it. 



But chief to the heedless flies the window proves 



A constant death ; where, gloomily retir'd, 



Tlie villain Spider lives: cunning, and fierce, 



Mixture abhorr'd ! Amid a mangled heap 



Of carcasses, in eager watch he sits, 



Overlooking all his waving snares around. 



Near the dire cell the heedless wanderer oft 



Passes, as oft the ruffian shows his front. 



The prey at last ensnar'd, he dreadful darts 



With rapid glide along the leaning line : 



And, fixing in the wretch his cruel fangs, 



Strikes backward, grimly pleas'd : the fluttering wing 



And shriller sound declare extreme distress, 



And ask the helping hospitable hand. 



This Spider is furnished with a pair of very sharp 

 hooked fangs, inclosed, when at rest, in cases it the 

 fore part of his head. With this weapon (which a 

 good glass will discover to have a small slit or ori- 

 fice in each point) he seizes and pierces such insects 

 as entangle themselves in his web ; and by infusing 

 a 'poisonous liquid into the wound. This poison 

 must be very active and deleterious ; for flies, and 

 many other insects, may be mutilated by depriving 

 them of their legs, wings, and even cutting their 

 bodies through the very middle of the abdomen, 

 and in that condition will survive several days, but 

 this liquid in a moment kills them. 



When two spiders of the same size meet in com- 

 bat, neither of them will yield : thev hold each 



