Funnel-Web Builder. $3 
the claw of the mandible. When the apparatus is not in use 
the claws are closed up against the parts between the rows 
of teeth; but when the jaws are opened to bite the claws 
are turned outward, so that their points can be made to 
penetrate anything that comes between the jaws. The ordi- 
nary function of the mandibles is the killing and crushing of 
insects, so that the soft parts can be eaten by the spider, and 
in this preparation they are substantially aided by the max- 
ill. Spiders will sometimes chew an insect for hours, until 
it becomes a mere ball of skin, only swallowing such bits as 
may happen to be sucked in with the blood. Let alone and 
unmolested, they bite nothing except insects that are useful 
for food. But when attacked and cornered, all species open 
their jaws and bite if they can, their ability to do so depend- 
ing upon their size and the strength of their jaws. Notwith- 
standing the large number of pimples and stings ascribed to 
spiders, undoubted cases of their biting the human skin are 
exceedingly rare, and the stories of death, insanity and lame- 
ness from spider-bites are probably all untrue. Many experi- 
ments have been made to test the effect of the bites of spi- 
ders on animals. Insects succumb most readily to their 
bites, some sooner than others, but birds, except when bitten 
by the larger Mygale, recover after the lapse of a few hours. 
The effect upon man, even when the bite is deep enough to 
draw blood, is like the pricks of a needle, attended by little 
or no inflammation or pain. Even in cases where death 
among insects and birds ensues it is claimed by the authori- 
ties, men as eminent as Blackwall, Moggridge and Dufour, 
that the secretion from spiders’ jaws is not poisonous, but 
that the animals die, when bitten, from loss of blood and 
mechanical injury. 
Such is the prejudice against the spider, that its presence, 
no matter where found, whether in the open field or in a 
corner of the house, is an inducement for its inveterate 
enemy, man, to sweep it to the ground or floor and crush 
its frail life out with one blow of the foot. Few know, or 
