i8o LIFE AND HER CHILDREN. 
for the movement to be seen, the long claws were 
thrown forward, and the cricket was seized and held 
up in the air. But our friend had no intention of 
yielding so easily, he was strong, and he struggled 
violently in vain, for his captor briskly curled up 
the long tail which had till now seemed such a 
burden to him, and from the tip of it thrust a 
poisoned dart into the body of his victim. So the 
sturdy cricket died in the grasp of the Scorpion. 
Nor was his captor long in devouring his prey. 
Bringing the cricket down to his mouth he pierced 
his skin with the sharp pincers (p, Fig. 63), which 
take the place of antennae on his head, and soon 
sucked out the juices of his body ; then dropping the 
empty skin he went dragging slowly on his way, in 
search either of fresh food or to find some mate 
wandering like himself. 
Plenty of these fierce little Scorpions, which hide 
under stones by day and come out by night, may be 
found in the warm sunny south, and though they 
look so like crustaceans, they are true land animals. 
They have no means of spinning, and have a poison 
dart in the tail quite peculiar to themselves, yet they 
belong to the spider family, as may be seen by their 
eight pairs of legs, their sharp pincers which take the 
place of the antennae of insects, their claws which 
are part of their mouth-pieces and are fixed to the 
jaws, and the narrow slits under the abdomen 
through which they take in air to breathe. They 
lead but a lonely life ; for whether in the sandy 
plains of Africa, where they are often as much as a 
foot long, or in the burning heat of South America, 
or on the warm bright shores of Italy, each scorpion 
