114 SCIENCE AND RELIGION. 



kakati, to sting, and po, the night. The range of this spider has always 

 been regarded as somewhat local, and in the island has been thought to be 

 confined to the seashore. Dr. Buller, of Wellington, in a recent article on 

 the subject, states that there is a small extent of sand hills near Woiksnae, 

 on the west coast, noted among the natives for the abundance of katipo- 

 'A settler residing there, named Jenkins, assured me that he could, without 

 difficulty, fill a quart measure in a few hours. In 1867, I collected in the 

 same locality a considerable number, and kept them alive for several weeks 

 in order to study their habits. And here I may mention a circumstance 

 illustrative of the wonderful tenacity of life possessed by this formidable 

 member of the Arachnida fiamily. I shut up a full grown katipo in a drug- 

 gist's chip-box on May 11, and placing it among other objects in my cabi- 

 net, it was overlooked and forgotten. I consequently did not open the 

 chip-box again until October 8, following, when I found the spider alive 

 and active, and apparently none the worse for a five months' fasting ! I am 

 inclined to consider the above case corroborative of the native account that 

 on the approach of cold weather the katipo retires to a cell underground 

 and passes the winter in a torpid state, and that in this condition it may be 

 handled with perfect impunity.' 



"It seems idle to speculate how these venomous insects reached this 

 country. We know that ships from New Zealand are continually reaching 

 our shores, and that during the early months of the Centennial year this 

 communication was exceptionally large. It is more than likely, however, 

 that the Latrodectus katipo has been colonized among us for some years. A 

 single pair produces an incredible offspring in a single season ; and our 

 sandy soil and seashores, like Coney Island, may soon be rendered more 

 dangerous than an Indian jungle or a Florida swamp by this deadly and 

 industrious insect." — New York Mercury. 



SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY. 



SCIENCE AND RELIGION. 



It is generally supposed by the average thinker that all religious persons 

 regard the doctrines of Darwin and Huxley as at least akin to atheism, if 

 not atheism itself, and it may surprise some of our readers to learn that 

 many wise and good Christians accept the development theory as probably 

 correct and demonstrable, and one which may be believed in without any 

 decrease or modification of their faith in God and Christianity. Others 

 again seem to regard every new theory or discovery in science as an at- 



