196 ARTHROPODS: ARACHNIDS. 



foot apart on the stem of a grapevine. The outside of 

 the vase looks like brown paper, or it is in appearance 

 and in toughness like the outside of the cocoon of the 

 Cecropia Moth ; the vase is fastened to the vine by 

 a vast number of threads of silk passing from one side 

 of the vase to the other around the vine, and the 

 threads are so nicely arranged that the vase cannot 

 turn nor slip from its place. On opening this curious 

 structure, it was found to be filled with the finest silk 

 and a great number of newly-hatched spiders. 



Scorpions. 



The Scorpions are confined to warm regions, and 

 live among ruins of buildings, under rubbish, and some- 

 times in houses. They have a long body ending in a 



Fig. 342. — Scorpion. 



curved, sharp sting, with which they inflict painful 

 wounds, which may be dangerous or even sometimes 

 fatal. They can run quite rapidly, and can bend the 

 hind body or tail in any direction, and use it both for 

 attack and defence. The form above is found in Texas, 



