OUR HOUSE SPIDERS. 
165 
several lenticular cocoons of white silk of a fine texture, 
measuring about -^ths of an inch in diameter, in each of which 
she deposits from fifty to sixty spherical eggs of a yellowish- 
white colour, not adherent among themselves; these cocoons 
are attached to objects in the vicinity of her snare, and have 
generally particles of plaster, whitewash, or mortar disposed 
on their exterior surface. 
The following remarkable physiological facts in connection 
with Tegenaria civilis have been ascertained by observation 
and experiment ; namely, that both sexes change their integu- 
ment nine times before they arrive at maturity, once in the 
cocoon and eight times after quitting it ; that a leg of a young 
individual, detached at the coxa six times consecutively, may 
be reproduced at each succeeding ecdysis after the infliction of 
the injury ; that the life of this species extends through a 
period of four years ; that the reproductive system of the male 
is connected with the digital joint of the palpi ; and that the 
female, after one impregnation, is capable of producing nine 
sets of prolific eggs in succession, more than two years elapsing 
before all are deposited, and ten months nearly intervening 
sometimes between the deposition of two consecutive sets. 
All our native Tegenarice have the superior pair of spinners 
triarticulate, the spinnerets being disposed on the inferior sur- 
face of their elongated terminal joint. The principal purpose 
subserved by these organs, when thus modified, appears to be 
the binding down of the filaments emitted from the inter- 
mediate and inferior spinners with transverse lines distributed 
by means of an extensive lateral motion, by which process a 
compact tissue is speedily fabricated. The opinion, formerly 
prevalent, that the function exercised by the superior spinners, 
when triarticulate and considerably elongated, is simply that 
of touch, and that they are employed solely in regulating the 
application of the true spinners to appropriate objects, must 
therefore be regarded as decidedly erroneous. 
The spider alluded to by Mr. Jesse in his “ Scenes and 
Tales of Country Life,-” p. 339, as being peculiar to Hampton 
Court, and there named the Cardinal , most probably is 
Tegenaria domestica. 
Family Theridiidce. 
In ancient mansions, situated in the south of England, a 
spider of this family, remarkable for the length and delicacy 
of its legs, and for the singular structure of the palpi and 
palpal organs of the male, is of frequent occurrence in the 
corners of rooms, constructing therein a slight, irregular 
snare consisting of a few fine lines, intersecting one another 
in different planes and at various angles. This spider is the 
