368 Sl'JDEKS OF (iUEIlXSEV. 



Possibly this is in a great measure due to the fact that the 

 great bulk of insects may be preserved in a dried condition 

 without undergoing nuich aUeration in foi'm and colour; 

 whereas the soft bodies of spiders shrivel up and become 

 imrecognlsable if allowed to dry, and even when preserved in 

 liquid (as they should be) they do not form so mangeable 

 a collection, so attractive to the eye, and so convenient for 

 reference, as a properly arranged (collection of butterflies or 

 beetles. Similarly among botanists, mosses and seaweeds will 

 always be greater favourites than fungi, simply because 

 an Agaric loses all its beauty when dried, and becomes a 

 hideous distortion ; whereas a moss or a seaAveed retains its 

 grace of form and colour to a great extent, and remains even 

 when dry a thing of beauty. 



Spiders are commonly classed as insects, in the broad 

 acceptation of the term ; and it is quite permissible and even 

 convenient to do so ; but it must be remembered that this is 

 not strictly accurate in a scientific sense. Spiders are not 

 true insects, as I shall endeavour to explain very briefly. 



The class Insecta is distinguished from all others in the 

 Animal Kingdom by the following main characters: (1) the 

 division of the body into three distinct parts — head, thorax 

 and abdomen ; (2) the possession in the perfect state of 

 six legs, tAVO antennae, and two compound eyes ; (o) respiration 

 through branching air-vessels which terminate in a series 

 of spiracles or breathing-holes ; and (4) the undergoing of 

 certain remarkable tiansformations before arriving at their 

 full development. 



The class Arachnida, to which spiders belong, differs 

 from the Insecta in the following particulars : ( 1 ) the body 

 is divided into tAvo, not three, distinct parts ; (2) the number 

 of legs is eight, instead of six ; the eyes are simple, not 

 compound ; and there are no anteim<e ; (3) respiration (in 

 spiders) is carried on in localised lungs ; and (4) the young on 

 exclusion from the egg resemble their parents, and undergo no 

 transformations before reaching maturity. 



The Araclmida, which form a connecting link between 

 the Insects proper and the Crustacea, comprise four orders, 

 viz. : the Araneidea, or Spiders ; the Phalcuu/idea^ or 

 Harvestmen ; the Ckenietidea^ or False-scorpions, and the 

 Acaridea, or Mites. In the Spiders the head and thorax are 

 fused together, so as to form only one piece called the 

 cepliabtliorcLv^ to which the abdomen is attached by a short 

 peduncle. These two parts of the body are ahvays quite 

 distinct from each other, and the eyes (in all British species) 



