FIELD AND FOREST. 



129 



ped off and one end extended and held fast will bring the other nearer 

 to it; in this manner the earthworm, having shot out and extended its 

 body, takes hold by the slime of the fore part of its body, and so con- 

 tracts and brings forward the hinder parts; in this manner it moves on- 

 ward, not without great effort; but the occasions for its progressive 

 motion are few." The charming lady speaks in generalities, while 

 charming Oliver goes into particulars. I do not know that anyone ex- 

 cept Goldsmith has descibed this spiral affair. I have not been able 

 to find it. — [To be continued.] 



A. C. S. 



MISCELLANY. 



FIELD RECORD. 



The "Tarantula." — Perhaps there are 

 those who never saw the American Tar" 

 antula, or heard of its peculiar habits. I 

 allude to the species known as such which 

 belongs to the genus Mygale. They in- 

 habit almost exclusively the southwestern 

 States, and are often from two to two. and 

 a half inches in length, and when stand- 

 ing up ready for battle their legs extend 

 over four inches. They live in the ground' 

 in deep crevices or holes made by them- 

 selves, which they line with a web-for- 

 mation resembling raw silk. They have 

 two common enemies; one which never re- 

 fuses a challenge to fight, although I have 

 never known of a victory on either side. 

 This Chivalrous Knight is the common 

 toad. It has never been my fortune to 

 witness but one regular battle between 

 these antagonists, and that was an inter- 

 esting one. It lasted an hour, when night 

 came on and I was obliged to leave them 

 to settle their little difficulty by themselves 

 without the benefit of a referee. 



The battle field was a bare piece of 

 ground near a deserted ant hill, on the 

 open pnnrie in Central Texas I first 

 observed the Tarantula, which seemed to 

 be greatly agitated as he swayed his body 

 first to one side and then the other. My 

 first impulse was to dismount and kill it, but 

 while noticing its movements I saw a toad 

 hop towards his enemy; I then dismounted 

 and observed closely the movements of each 

 as they prepared for the next round. They 

 seemed anxious to begin, yet neither ap- 

 peared ready to .strike the first blow. At 

 last, after several feints, the toad stand- 

 ing, faced the front with mouth open 

 to its fullest extent, ready to receive his 

 hairy and wily foe. Suddenly, with a jump 

 quick as thought, he landed on the back 

 of his toadship and off again as soon. The 

 toad then hopped off into the grass.but his 

 antagonist held the fort, but the toad soon 

 came to time, and the usual finesse seemed 

 the regular order of business. Again and 

 again did these movements occur, neither 

 seeming to be tired of the war, until the 



