73 
THE LADIES’ MAGAZINE OP GARDENING. 
Spiders are oviparous; and lay their eggs in thickly-woven bags during 
the autumn; which bags are fixed in some dry corner of a building, or in 
a deep chink in the bark of a tree, until the warmth of the returning 
spring hatches the young, which immediately disperse from their birth¬ 
place, and enter on their business of weaving nets, and providing for 
themselves. 
The generic distinctions of the family are :—first, they are apterous ; 
that is, wingless; secondly, they have eight legs: and thirdly, they are 
furnished with eight eyes, variously placed in front, or along the sides of 
their thorax. One or two species have only six eyes, but it is a rare 
occurrence in this family. 
With a few exceptions, the female spiders possess a store of glutinous 
matter in their abdomens, which they can eject at pleasure from a number 
of teat-like appendices, which form the tail of the insect; so that each 
apparent thread by which it hangs, or which it otherwise disposes of, is 
really composed of as many distinct single threads as the spider has teats 
or spinners. The thread thus formed is so exceedingly light that it is 
readily wafted before the wind: but after being exposed to the air a little 
while, it acquires a considerable degree of tenacity, as well as elasticity, 
on which last property, indeed, the strength of the threads and tissues 
depend. The female insect has the power of emitting one or several 
separate threads at will: and always, when in removing from one place 
to another with which she is not acquainted, she constantly emits a thread 
to serve as a cable, lest she should lose her footing. The males of all the 
species are very differently formed to the females; their bodies, particu¬ 
larly the abdomen, being more slender, and their legs longer: their 
fore-claws are also much stronger, and appear intended either for self- 
defence, or for seizing their prey, as they make no web for ensnaring 
winged insects as the females do. Neither have they any regular home; 
but they rove about from web to web, always, however, appearing to 
enter with caution, and seeming to wait an invitation, which is probably 
given by signs between themselves, which an observer cannot easily 
understand. 
Different species choose different situations to live in : one inhabits the 
darkest corners of rural buildings, hence it is called the barn spider; and 
this kind attains a larger size than any other British species. The females 
invariably make in a corner a thickly woven web of a triangular shape, 
which is seemingly intended to receive anything that falls, or may alight 
upon it. The abode of the insect is formed like a bag in the inner angle, 
having a hole near the bottom to allow her to escape from danger, and 
