AKACHNID^E. 285 



deep. Here, then, is a cup full of eggs, the under half covered and 

 protected by the silken sides of the cup, but the upper still bare and 

 exposed to the air and the cold. It is now the spider's task to cover 

 these, and the process is similar to the preceding, that is, she weaves a 

 thick web of silk all round them, and, instead of a cup-shaped nest like 

 some birds, the whole eggs are enclosed in a ball much larger than the 

 body of the spider that constructed it. 



The feet of the spider, one of which is represented at No. 4, are 

 curiously constructed. Each foot, when magnified, is seen to be armed 

 with strong, horny claws, furnished with bent teeth on the under-sur- 

 face, which gradually diminish towards the extremity of the claw. By 

 this apparatus the spider is enabled to regulate the issue of its rope 

 from the spinnarets, and also to suspend itself with the greatest ease by 

 the larger central claw. Some have, in addition, a remarkable comb- 

 like claw, for the purpose of separating certain fibrous bands that enter 

 into the composition of their delicate webs. 



One of the most remarkable members of this family is the Argy- 

 roneba aquMica, or Diving Spider, which weaves itself a curious little 

 beU-shaped dwelling at the bottom of the water, whither it retires to 

 devour its prey. As, notwithstanding its aquatic habits, this animal, 

 like the rest of its order, is fitted only for aerial respiration, it takes 

 care to fill its miniature dome with air, which it carries down with it 

 fi:om the surface amongst the hairs with which its body is thickly 

 clothed ; a process very closely resembling that by which the earliest 

 diving-bells were supplied with air. 



The LycosidoE agree in the structure of their jaws and palpi, and 

 in the number of their spinnarets, with the Araneidce; but the eyes are 

 arranged in three rows. Unlike the Araneidce, the animals of this 

 family never construct regular webs for the capture of prey; their 

 utmost exertion of instinct in this direction consisting in laying a few 

 threads in the neighbourhood of their dwelling-places. They generally 

 live under stones, in holes in the earth, or in old walls, sometimes 

 lining their habitations with a silken tapestry; and some, which live 

 upon trees, weave themselves a silken nest amongst the leaves or on 

 the branches. A common example is the Saltieus scenicus, a, small 

 species banded with black and white, which may frequently be met 

 with on garden- walls. 



