51 6 
SPIDER. 
prey. But with all this formidable equipage, the 
spider would be unsuccessful in her wars, were she 
not as well accommodated with instruments to 
form an ambush, as with weapons for an attack. 
She has no wings to assist her in the pursuit of her 
prey, which could never be obtained by her if she 
was not endowed with a good stock of thread, and 
sufficient industry to spin it into a web, or snare. 
This she spreads in the open air, and when her task 
is completed she retires into a chamber in the back 
part of the net, where, quite invisible, she patiently 
awaits the enemy. 
All spiders at the extremity of their belly, have 
five teats or papillae, covered with others of lesser 
dimensions, the orifices of which they open and 
shut, as well as contract and dilate, at pleasure. 
Through these orifices they distil that clammy gum 
with which their belly is replenished; and whilst 
the spider discharges it through one or more 
apertures, the thread lengthens in proportion to her 
distance from the place she first fastened it. When 
she closes the openings of her dugs, the threads no 
longer lengthen, and she remains suspended in the 
air. She afterwards makes use of this thread for 
her ascent, by grasping it in her paws, as some 
people climb up a rope with their hands and 
knees. With this thread she spins a web, that fur- 
nishes her with advantages of a very different na- 
ture. 
Having thus noticed the parts which are common 
to the species in general, we shall now proceed to de- 
