456 A DESCRIPTION OF 
eight legs, and generally eight eyes; mandibles termi- 
nated by a moveable claw, which sometimes emits poison; 
and an abdomen without rings, furnished at its point with 
four or six spinnarets, from which the Spider emits the 
threads used in spinning its web. This web is wonderful in 
its formation. 
The Spider's touch, how exquisitely fine ! 
Feels at each thread, and lives along the line. 
POPE. 
The Spider sits in the middle, and at the least motion, 
caused by a fly or other insect pressing against it, he 
rushes on his prey, sucks its juices, and gets rid of the 
remains. This is often, however, attended with great 
detriment to the net, which the Spider immediately re- 
pairs. The female lays generally from nine hundred to a 
thousand eggs, which are kept in a kind of bag, and thus 
an immense number of Spiders are hatched every year, 
which would soon become troublesome from their num- 
bers, if they were not kept in check by the numerous 
birds which take them for food. The silk which the 
Spider produces has not strength enough to be employed 
for any useful purpose, though, out of curiosity, gloves 
and stockings have been woven out of it. A great diffi- 
culty, however, arises in the pugnacious habits of Spiders, 
as when a number of Spiders are kept together, they 
fight so dreadfully, that in a short time only a very few 
are left alive ; and a great number would be required, as 
twelve Spiders do not produce so much silk as a single 
silkworm. Spiders resemble the Crustacea in having the 
power of re-producing legs when they have lost them. 
