NATURAL HISTORY MISCELLANY. 51 
peared the size of a pigeon's egg. As soon as it observed me it stopped. 
Approaching it gradually I could see it crouch, evidently aware that it 
and made a strike to empale the body and missed it. What was my aston- 
ishment when I beheld a mass of life uniformly BA ups vila the spi- 
der; it was all alive. I knocked the spider from the t 
beneath; the jar seemed to shake from its abdomen eng I soon saw 
were young spiders, as the rock was black with the young ones for a 
space of six inches in diameter around the old spider. The parent spider 
did not attempt to run but crouched, and the young began to gather upon 
her body again. I made a successful hit, and stuck the pin where it held, 
and the moment it was inserted into the spider’s body, the young left at 
once and dispersed upon the rock. I soon perceived the floating webs 
passing from the rock to spears of grass on which spiders were quite 
thick. I should say, at a pure guess, that there were two hundred young 
spiders, but from the long legs they spread out, they seemed even more 
numerous. I next noticed spiders upon my coat, hat and collar, and ex- 
perimented myself with the spider p gem out the floating web. When 
about six to ten feet from the rock, I saw in the sunlight two webs float- 
ing aside of each other, about one dur apart. I saw that the terminus of 
these webs were but a short distance from my face, and at each end a 
spider. They moved slowly before the wind, and I watched them for 
Several feet, mounting upwards until lost to view.— 
[Several species of the genus Lycosa are known to ‘inte the | habit of 
carrying their young about with them.— Eps.] 
THE CATTLE Tick.—The perfect insect found in Texas, gorged with 
blood and ready to give birth to its young, is much like Fig. 1e of the 
Moose Tick (NATURALIST, Vol. II, p. 559). They drop from the cattle in 
the woods, and more frequently along the cattle paths. How long before 
they appear as “seed ticks" I do not know. It was a prevalent notion 
among the people that they burst open, nearly the whole interior being 
composed of the young. These, probably, soon after birth, ascend to the 
When taken off by one they soon commence grein and in three or 
four days, I should think, gorge themselves and fall off. They are then, 
except as to size, much like the full-grown pides insect. emi long a 
time is required for them to become depleted, or to regain their flattened 
form, I do not know; but when ready for a new meal or a new 
formation (now called Linee ticks"), they again bushes, but 
not in clusters; or they crawl over fallen leaves and attach themselves 
again to animals as chance may me. They again gorge themselves an 
fall off as before, to become lean a second time. A third time they fasten 
to horses, cattle, hogs, dogs, man, and other animals. This seems to be 
their last time, and, when full, they fall off and become converted to seed 
ticks. This was the common belief, and may be more or 
defecti 
m 
