Of Spiders . 11 y 
and tranfparent cruft: as thefe eyes are immoveable, na¬ 
ture hath indulged them with fo large a number, to give 
them information of any thing that any ways concerns 
them. 
Every fpider is furniftied with a pair of forceps, repre- 
fented at A B, and C D, fig. 1^3. in the fore-part of its 
head. They ftand horizontally, and when not made ufe 
of, they let the claw of them fall down on their refpec- 
tive branches, like a knife clafped upon its haft, as at 
C D, and there they lie between two rows of teeth, that 
are likewife employed to hold faft its prey. 
Authors are divided in their opinions on the poifon of 
fpiders, fome calling thefe forceps ftings; as Mr. Leeu¬ 
wenhoek, who calls the hooked claws AB and CD 
ftings; and fays, that towards their extremity at B and 
C, are two fmall holes, from whence, according to all ap¬ 
pearance, when it ftrikes its enemy, it therefrom eje&s ^ 
liquid matter, we call poifon. 
He put a frog and a fpider together into a glafs, and 
having made the fpider fting m the frog divers times, the 
frog died in about an hour’s time. 
Dr. Mead believes this to be a miftake, and that while 
the fpider bites, a fhort white probofcis n is thruft out 
from the mouth, which inftils a liquor into the wound. 
They frequently caft their fkins, which are to be 
found in cobwebs, in which the forceps may be exa¬ 
mined, being always fhed with the fkins, and eafier fe- 
parated than when alive. They are commonly fpread 
out to view, and by their tranfparency, every minute 
part is feen with much diftimftnefs. 
The microfcope hath alfo informed us of the manner 
how the fpiders weave their webs, and of their contex¬ 
ture, for the performance of which nature hath endowed 
J 3 them 
? Phil. Tranf. No. 272. » Mead of Poifon, 
