CLASS III. ARACHNIDA: ORDER 2. POLYMEROSOMATA. 603 
Tarantula, Lycosa tarantula, of Southern Europe, whose bite is supposed by the natives of 
Italy to cause death, unless the patient be reheved by music and violent dancing. Some of 
these spiders can run in any direction, and are called Side- Walker s ; a common example is 
the Salticus scenicus, a small species banded with black and white, which may frequently be met 
with on garden walls. 
THE MYGALIDiE. 
The spiders with which we in temperate climates are most acquainted are of small size, but 
in hot regions there are species whose extended legs occupy 
a circle of six or seven inches in diameter. Some of 
these, belonging to the genus My gale, found in South 
America and Mexico, are said to attack young humming- 
birds, and to climb trees for this j)urpose. Species occur 
on the shores of the Mediterranean; but they are, for the 
most part, confined to tropical countries. They resemble 
the Lycosidse in their habits, generally living on the ground, 
in holes or under stones. Some of them form long, twisted 
burrows for themselves, Avhich extend as much as two feet 
below the surface of the ground. The bite of the large 
tropical species of My gale, generally called Sjnder- Crabs 
by the colonists, is said to be very dangerous. Some spi- 
ders, like the Ctenizce, close the mouth of their subter- 
ranean residence with a most ingeniously-constructed trap- 
door, which the inhabitant closes with the utmost perti- 
'^.^ nacity when any attempt is made to invade the privacy 
of his domicile. Hence these, of which several species 
are found in the south of Europe and on the shores of the 
Mediterranean, are generally known as Tra^p-door Spiders. 
The species of spiders are very numerous, and their 
forms, instincts, and habits greatly diversified. In general 
they may be regarded as among the most active, ingenious, and predaceous of the smaller articulata. 
THE MTGALE. 
ORDER 2. POLYMEROSOMATA. 
This order, sometimes called Pedipalpi, or feet-feelers, and which derives its name from the Greek 
polus, many, mera, divisions, 
and somata, bodies, includes 
two families, the first of which 
is the Scorpionidce, character- 
ized by their elongated tail-like 
abdomen, armed at its extrem- 
ity with a sort of hooked claw, 
which, when the creatures are 
in motion, is always carried over 
the back in a most threatening 
attitude, 
is the 
nature of which such extraordi- 
nary accounts are given by the 
natives of countries to which the 
larger and more voracious spe- 
cies are confined. The poison 
THE scoKPio-N. glauds arc situated close to the 
This claw-like organ 
sting, of the formidable 
