THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S 
WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER. 
No. 51.] SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1857. [Price Id. 
SPIDERS. 
At this season of the year none can turn 
out in the country, on a dewy morning, 
without being reminded very forcibly of 
the existence of spiders. Hedges, grass, 
trees, posts are all tenanted more or 
less thickly with spiders ; and even if we 
don’t take the trouble to look for them, 
spiders’ threads will catch on the bridge 
of our nose, or tickle our forehead, and 
so try our patience. 
Where do they all come from ? what 
are they all doing ? and how is so great 
a multitude to be fed ? For surely if all 
these myriads of blood-suckers can ob- 
tain a quantum sufficit, it need be no 
mystery how to feed even the population 
of China. 
We presume it must have been the 
Arachnoidal state of the atmosphere 
which has lately led several of our 
correspondents to inquire — “How are 
spiders preserved?” — “Whose is a good 
hook on the subject?” 
In 1852 Mr. Meade, writing in the 
‘ Zoologist,’ remarks, “ Among the many 
interesting observations on various ani- 
mals given in the ‘ Zoologist,’ few are to 
be found concerning the Arachnida, or 
spiders. The reader neither meets with 
critical remarks on their genera and 
species, notices of the capture of rare 
specimens, nor, with a few exceptions, 
any observations on their habits and eco- 
nomy. This neglect cannot be ascribed 
to their being deficient in interest, as 
the spiders must be classed among our 
most ingenious and sagacious animals ; 
but it shows that very little attention is 
bestowed upon them by British natu- 
ralists. There may be several reasons 
for this neglect, and, among others, the 
great difficulty attending the determi- 
nation of species may be mentioned, 
arising from the close resemblance be- 
tween allied species, and the want of 
good books on the subject; but the chief 
reason I believe to be the difficulty of 
preserving specimens.” 
Mr. Meade remarks, “ the only syste- 
matic work that attempts to give a com- 
plete description of the species of the 
Arachnida is Walckenaer’s ‘ Histoire 
Naturelle des Insecles Apteres;’ but 
this does not comprise more than about 
two-thirds of the already-named British 
species, accounts of which, from the pen 
of Mr. Blackwall, will be found in the 
‘ Transactions of the Linnean Society,’ 
in his * Researches on Zoology,’ and 
scattered through different scientific 
periodicals.” 
Mr. Meade’s recipe for preserving 
spiders is “ enclose the specimens in 
small glass bottle tubes, made of thin 
glass tubing, each about an inch and a 
half long, with a flat bottom, which pre- 
vents them from breaking easily when 
2 c 
