4 8 
THE NATURALISTS’ JOURNAL. 
Their legs are jointed in such a manner, that the) 7 can progress 
backwards, forwards, or sideways like a crab. One species, 
Philodromus fallax , is remarkable for its close similarity in colour 
to the yellow sand of the sea-shore, which place it inhabits ; but 
it is rather rare and the young collector will not meet with it at 
first. The Drassidce construct cells made of silk spun by 
themselves. These cells are to be found in the trunk of trees, 
crevices of walls, rocks, and under stones, &c. Very often thev 
will fasten a leaf together by threads of silk, and use it as a 
habitation. The CmiflonidcB are found amongst foliage, under 
bark, in rocks, walls, &c. 
It is useless to give, or try to give a complete list of localities, 
they are so various, and every day would add fresh and novel 
ones to the list. Mr. Jesse records an instance of a spider—or 
rather two—constructing a couple of webs in the opposite 
corners of a drawer and living there joyous and contented for a 
period extending upwards of thirteen years ! 
Look for them, however, in cellars, houses, gardens, sheds, 
crevices of bark, walls, rocks, &c., under stones, fallen leaves, &c. 
In fact, look everywhere for them, the same as one does for 
insects and other natural history specimens, remembering while 
doing so that “onenever knows ” and likewise, “ one can never 
be too careful.” These should be the naturahst’s guiding aphor¬ 
isms. 
A sweeping net will come in handy for manipulating amongst 
low herbage, and will also serve to gather the water spider Argy- 
roneta aquatica. This is found in most pools, and is interesting 
to confine within the precincts of an aquarium as it constructs it 
web below water and buoys it up by taking down underneath it 
bubbles of air by means of its hairy body. (No joke intended.) 
If the reader is an Entomologist he will be provided with all 
necessaries for collecting spiders. The requisites are few :—a 
sweeping net, to sweep plants, by which means a large number 
may be quickly obtained and can be picked over at leisure, and an 
umbrella to beat into, many species being found in the trees. 
To this paraphernalia add some chip boxes, preferably with 
glass tops. These enable the animal to be examined alive, its 
movements, and idiosyncrasies noted and commented upon, etc. 
In the field the arachnologist must keep his eyes open and 
possess a nimble pair of hands. Spider catching is not 
the easiest thing in the world as the collector will find out. 
Some will fall off the plant and tree and feign dead among the 
rubbish at the bottom, while others will depend on their legs 
and make off at a rate calculated to bother the man with a chip 
box in his hand, and an eager look on his face. Various species 
belonging to various families have different methods of escaping 
and the student should note particularly how he missed his 
spider—or rather how the spider missed him. 
