154 THE SPIDER KIND. 



the breast. The hinder part is clothed with a supple skin, beset 

 all over with hair. They have several eyes all round the head, 

 brilliant and acute ; these are sometimes eight in number, some- 

 times but six ; two behind, two before, and the rest on each 

 side. Like all other insects, their eyes are immoveable, and 

 they want eyelids ; but this organ is fortified with a transparent 

 horny substance, which at once secures and assists their vision. 

 As the animal procures its subsistence by the most watchful at- 

 tention, so large a number of eyes was necessary to give it the 

 earliest information of the capture of its prey. They have two 

 pincers on the fore part of the head, rough, with strong points, 

 toothed like a saw, and terminating in claws like those of a cat. 

 A little below the point of the claw there is a small hole through 

 which the animal emits a poison which, though harmless to us, 

 is sufficiently capable of instantly destroying its prey. This is the 

 most powerful weapon they have against their enemies : they 

 can open or extend these pincers as occasion may require, and 

 when they are undisturbed, they suffer them to lie one upon the 

 other, never opening them but when there is a necessity for 

 their exertion. They have all eight legs, jointed like those of 

 lobsters, and similar also in another respect ; for if a leg be torn 

 away, or a joint cut off, a new one will quickly grow in its place, 

 and the animal will find itself fitted for combat as before. At 

 the end of each leg there are three crooked moveable claws ; 

 namely, a small one, placed higher up, like a cock's spur, by the 

 assistance of which it adheres to the threads of its web ; there 

 are two others larger, which meet together like a lobster's 

 claw, by which they can catch hold of the smallest depressions, 

 walking up or down the most polished surfaces, on which they 

 can find inequalities that are imperceptible to our grosser sight. 

 But when they walk upon such bodies as are perfectly smooth, 

 as looking-glass or polished marble, they squeeze a little sponge, 

 which grows near the extremity of their claws, and thus diffusing 

 a glutinous substance, adhere to the surface until they make a 

 second step. Besides the eight legs just mentioned, these ani- 

 mals have two others, which may more properly be called arms, 

 as they do not serve to assist motion, but are used in holding 

 and managing their prey. 



The spider, though thus formidably equipped, would seldom 

 prove successful in the capture, were it not equally furnished 

 with other instruments to assist its depredations. As it lives 

 wholly upon flies, and is without wings to pursue them, it is ob- 

 vious they must for ever escape so impotent an adversary; but 

 the spider is a most experienced hunter, and spreads its nets to 

 catch those animals it is unable to pursue. The spider's web 

 is generally laid in those places where flies are most apt to come 



