SPIDERS — EMOTIONS. 
205 
caJled ‘ the law of battle/ must obviously be a constant 
source of the creation and the maintenance of specific 
proficiency ; the law of battle determines that only the 
strongest and most courageous males shall breed. But 
the benefit to species is not so obvious where the danger 
of courtship arises from the side of the female. Still, that 
there must be some benefit is obvious, seeing that the 
whole structure of the male, if we take that of the female 
as the original type, has been greatly modified with refer- 
ence to this danger : had the latter been wholly useless, 
either it would not have been allowed to arise, or the 
species must have become extinct. The only suggestion 
I can make to meet this aberrant case is that the courage 
and determination required of the male, besides being no 
doubt of use to him in other relations in life, may be of 
benefit to the species by instilling fihese qualities into the 
psychology both of his male and female descendants. 
The courage and rapacity of spiders as a class are too 
well and generally known to require special illustration. 
One instance, however, may be quoted to show the strength 
of their maternal emotions. Bonnet threw a spider with 
her bag of eggs into the pit of an ant-lion. The latter 
seized the eggs and tore them away from the spider ; but 
although Bonnet forced her out of the pit, she returned, 
and chose to be dragged in and buried alive rather than 
leave her charge. 
The only other point that occurs to me with reference 
to the emotions of spiders is the somewhat remarkable one 
concerning their apparent fondness of music. The testi- 
mony is so varied and abundant on this matter that we 
can scarcely doubt the truth of the facts. These simply 
are that spiders — or at any rate some species or individuals 
— approach a sounding musical instrument, 6 especially 
when the music is tender and not too loud.’ They usually 
approach as near as possible, often letting themselves down 
from the ceiling of the room by a line of web, and remain 
suspended above the instrument. Should the music 
become loud, they often again retreat. Professor C. 
Eeclain, during a concert at Leipsic, saw a spider descend 
in this way from one of the chandeliers while a violin solo 
