KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



277 



Shakspeare describes is true and correct, for 

 it is that which " he has seen with his own 

 eyes." 



All spiders are furnished with a poisonous 

 fluid, conveyed in their fangs ; but its 

 effects seem to have been greatly over- 

 rated. There is one species (Theridium 

 verecundum) mentioned by Professor Hentz, 

 in the paper already quoted, as being well 

 known in the Southern States of America, 

 the people there considering it'e bite to be 

 very poisonous. A glass of brandy is stated, 

 however, to produce instant relief, and to 

 arrest the violent symptoms arising from its 

 bite, by inducing a reaction in the system. 

 I am not aware that any of our native 

 Aracknidai have occasioned actual suffering 

 to man ; yet, that they are full of venom, 

 is the universal belief; and in accordance 

 with it, King Richard II., in saluting the 

 " dear earth " on which he stands, after 



" late tossing on the breaking seas," 



accosts it thus : — 



" Feed not thy sovereign's foes, my gentle earth, 

 Nor with thy sweets comfort his ravenous 



sense ; 

 But let thy spiders, that suck up thy venom, 

 And hcavy-gaited toads, lie in their way, 

 Doing annoyance to the treacherous feet 

 Which with usurping steps do trample thee." 



Act hi. sc. 2. 



From another passage, it is evident that 

 Shakspeare believed that any injury a spider 

 might occasion, arose more from the ima- 

 gination of the sufferer than the venom of 

 the spider : — 



" There may be in the cup, 



A spider steep'd, and one may drink, depart, 

 And yet partake no venom ; for his knowledge 

 Is not infected; but if one present 

 The abhorr'd ingredient to his eye make 



known, 

 How he hath drunk, he cracks lib gorge, his 



sides, 

 With violent hefts." 



Winter's Tale, act ii. sc. 1 . 



It is gratifying to the Naturalist, to find 

 in a being regarded by the bulk of mankind 

 as so obnoxious, the manifestations of pa- 

 rental attachment. On the genus Lycosa, 

 Professor Hentz remarks — " We may wit- 

 ness astonishing instances of maternal ten- 

 derness and courage, and that, too, in the 

 most cruel race of animals ; a race, in which 

 ferocity renders even the approach of the 

 sexes a perilous act, and condemns every in- 

 dividual to perpetual solitude and appre- 

 hensions of its own kind. When a mother 

 is found with the cocoon containing the 

 progeny, if this be forcibly torn from her, 

 she turns round and grasps it with her man- 

 dibuke. All her limbs, one by one, may then 

 be torn from her body, without forcing her 



to abandon her hold. But if, without 

 mangling the mother, the cocoon be skil- 

 fully removed from her, and suddenly thrown 

 out of sight, she instantaneously loses all 

 her activity, seems paralysed, and coils her 

 tremulous limbs as if mortally wounded : if 

 the bag be returned, her ferocity and strength 

 are restored the moment she has any per- 

 ception of its presence, and she rushes to 

 her treasure to defend it to the last."* 



The harmony which nature has established 

 between the colors of these insects and the 

 places which they inhabit, must not be 

 passed in silence. The species of Epeira, 

 which weave their webs in the air, the 

 Thomisl, which hide themselves in flowers, 

 and the Sparassi, which run over the green 

 sward, have the body either of a uniform 

 lively green, yellow, or purple color, or 

 varied with handsome markings ; whilst the 

 My gale, Lycosce, and Aranece, which conceal 

 themselves under stones and in obscure 

 situations, are of brown, black, or other 

 obscure colors, like the places where they 

 reside. —Robert Patterson. 



* Silliman's " Journal of Science," Oct. 1831, 

 p. 107. 



BRITISH SONG BIRDS,— No. XXXIII. 



THE AVIARY AND ITS OCCUPANTS. 

 No. I. 



The near approach op Winter, and 

 the consequent departure of all our Summer 

 visitors, induce us to halt for a season in 

 writing further on their habits, manners, and 

 the mode of treatment. We have devoted, 

 already, no fewer than thirty-two successive 

 weeks to them, — leaving more than double 

 that number to follow ; and we shall, after 

 Christinas, be again ready with our pen to 

 anticipate their return. Meantime, we will 

 comply with the urgent request that has been 

 made to us — to treat of the " Aviary and its 

 Occupants." 



A love for birds is now becoming very 

 general ; and we are willing to hope, that 

 people are learning to be more humane 

 towards their little prisoners. There was 

 much room for improvement ! 



Presuming then, that all persons keeping 

 birds are naturally and devotedly fond of 

 them, and that they will ever make it their 

 study to render them happy in a state of con- 

 finement, our early consideration will be how 

 to build them a fitting Palace, and endow 

 it with some of the sweets of freedom — a 

 task not so difficult as might, by some, be 

 imagined. 



There are certain birds, to whom cages, 

 when properly constructed, are more accept- 

 able than the range of a large room ; their 



