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A circular door, about the size of a crown-piece, slightly concave on the outside and convex within, is formed of more than a dozen layers of the same web which lines the interior, closely laid upon one another, and shaped so that the inner layers are the broadest, the outer being gradually less in diameter, except towards the hinge, which is about an inch long; and in consequence of all the layers being united there, and prolonged into the tube, it becomes the thickest and strongest part of the structure. The elasticity of the materials also gives to this hinge the remarkable peculiarity of acting like a spring, and shutting the door of the nest spontaneously. It is, besides, made to fit so accurately to the aperture, which is composed of similar concentric layers of web, that it is almost impossible to distinguish the joining by the most careful inspection. To gratify curiosity, the door has been opened and shut hundreds of times without in the least destroying the power of the spring.' There are many others of this genus whose habitations display equal ingenuity, but our limits will not permit of their description.

THE GALEODES.

A spider known as the Galeodes vorax is common to India and the adjoining countries of Southern Asia. It is one of the most active and voracious, as its name implies, of the spider family; and presents so many peculiarities in its habits and mode of life, that we shall transcribe at length the interesting description given by Captain Hutton in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal: 'My first observations on this species were made in 1832, at Mirzapore, where it is very abundant, and of large size. During the rainy season, it was my constant habit, on a fine evening, to spread a sheet upon the ground near my house, upon which was placed a small lantern, to attract insects. In a very short time two or three of these ravenous spiders would make their appearance at the edge of the sheet, but at a respectful distance from each other; and no sooner did a moth, or a beetle, or a cricket alight upon it, than it was snapped up and devoured before I could lay hold of it. There seemed, indeed, to be no end to the appetite of these creatures; for they continued to seize and devour everything indiscriminately that came within their reach, even to large and hard-winged beetles, cutting them to pieces with their powerful jaws with the greatest ease. Many were the deadly fights I witnessed among these marauders, as they trespassed upon each other's beats, to get possession of some newly alighted prey, and often was I obliged to kill them, in order that I too might in turn obtain some share of the booty. This species is, strictly speaking, nocturnal, though I have sometimes seen them active in the daytime; they live beneath stones, and in holes in the ground, and never construct a net or

other trap for their prey, seizing everything by main force, as they roam about in search of food.

'Again I fell in with this species abundantly at Neemuch, where they were also sometimes of large size. One of these I kept for some time in a vessel, the bottom of which was well supplied with earth, which had been purposely hardened by pouring water on it, and then allowing it to dry. The galeodes soon began to dig a hole, and in a very short time succeeded in making itself a subterranean retreat, in which it usually resided, seldom coming forth beyond the mouth of its den. It proceeded to dig out the earth at first with its strong jaws, cutting it away in a circle; and having thus loosened the soil, gathered it together into a heap with its anterior palpi, and threw it out behind, as a dog does in scratching a hole. When it had by this means succeeded in excavating a hole sufficiently large for it to enter, instead of throwing out the loose earth, as at first, it gathered a quantity together, and surrounding or embracing it with the anterior palpi, shoved the load by main force before it up the mouth of the cave, and then returned for more. Having completed its task, it remained for a few days stationary, and refused to feed, although previously it would devour several insects at a meal, and even small house-lizards. I now perceived that it was a female, the ova being distinctly visible through the skin of the abdomen, which was much distended.

'The ova were deposited in the cave, to the number of more than fifty, the parent being motionless amidst them. In the course of a fortnight, these, which were of the size of a largish mustard-seed, and of whitish hue, were all hatched.

'The young are at first motionless, and appear devoid of animation, until the period of three weeks has elapsed, at which time they cast the first skin. Their colour, which up to this time was pure milky white, now gave place to a faint tinge of pale brown, and the jaws and palpi became deep brown. They now threw off their lethargy, and began to move about, and occasionally sallied forth from the den, but instantly retreated on the slightest appearance of danger. All this time, however, they took apparently no food whatever, and yet they continued to grow both in size and activity.

'It was indeed very interesting to watch the motions of the parent at this season. From the generally bad and ferocious character which the spider tribe bears, I fully expected to see the parent, at the first craving of appetite, commence an attack upon her own family, and devour them; but the All-wise Creator has endowed even this ferocious spider with that most powerful feeling-maternal love; and thus is the galeodes, the very tiger of the insect world, subdued at this period into the anxious and tender mother. Placing herself in front of the aperture of the cave, she seized and examined between her anterior palpi everything that entered. I tried repeatedly to arouse her anger by thrusting in straws, hoping to make

her forget her good behaviour; but all in vain; for though she bit and pulled at the straws in evident anger, not once did she turn upon her offspring, although crowding round, and crawling over her very body. I then threw in some beetles and flies, upon which she vented her fury by speedily devouring them; and I thought by this means to play her a trick. Accordingly, I withdrew two or three of the young ones from the cave, and threw in alternately a beetle and a young galeodes, thinking to deceive the parent, and make her, in the blindness of her fury, commit infanticide. But nature was not to be thus deceived. The unfortunate beetles were instantly seized and devoured; but the mother knew her offspring, and drew them into the den without the slightest injury. The beetles were gathered into her jaws, but her own offspring were merely seized between the anterior palpi, and allowed to pass on unhurt.

'This species is extremely voracious, feeding at night upon beetles, flies, and even large lizards; and sometimes gorging itself to such a degree as to render it almost unable to move. A lizard, three inches long, exclusive of tail, was entirely devoured; the spider sprung at it, and made a seizure immediately behind the shoulder, never quitting its hold until the whole was consumed. The poor lizard struggled violently at first, rolling over and over in its agony, but the spider kept firm hold, and gradually sawed away with its double jaws into the very entrails of its victim. The only parts uneaten were the jaws and part of the skin, although the lizard was at least five inches long from nose to extremity of tail. After this meal, the spider remained gorged and motionless for about a fortnight, being much swollen and distended.

'A young sparrow, about half-grown, was placed under a bellglass with a galeodes; the moment the luckless bird moved, the spider seized him by the thigh, which he speedily sawed off, in spite of the sparrow's fluttering; and then, as the poor bird continued to struggle in pain, the savage seized him by the throat, and soon put an end to his sufferings by cutting off the head. It did not, however, devour the bird, nor any part of it, but seemed satisfied with having killed it.

'On another occasion I gave it a large garden-lizard, which was instantly seized by the middle of the body; the lizard, finding that it could not shake off its adversary, turned its head, and bit the galeodes on one leg, which obliged it immediately to quit its hold and retreat. On another occasion, my friend, Dr Baddeley, confined one of these spiders in a wall-shade with two young musk-rats (Sorex Indicus), both of which were killed by it.

'When two of these spiders are confined in a vessel together, both endeavour to make their escape, as if conscious of their mutual danger. If, in their efforts to get away, they are brought into contact, the one instantly seizes the other, and devours him, the

victim making no struggles whatever; but if they meet face to face, both enter into a wrestling-match for life or death.

'They plant their true feet firmly on the ground, the body at the same time being elevated, and the two pair of palpi held out in front to ward off the attack. In this attitude they advance and retire, according as either gains a slight advantage, endeavouring to throw each other to one side, so as to expose some vulnerable part, or form an opening for attack; and when this is once effected, the fortunate wrestler instantly takes advantage of it, and rushing in, seizes his adversary behind the thorax, and the combat is ended; the vanquished victim yielding himself without further struggle to his inevitable fate.

'The usual size of an adult specimen of galeodes is about 24 to 2 inches long, and the body or abdomen equal to a thrush's egg. When in motion, the body is elevated off the ground, and the two pair of palpi, or feelers, are stretched out, ready to make a seizure; it progresses therefore solely upon the true legs, which spring from the thorax, and are six in number. The head is armed with two strong and formidable chelæ, or double jaws, answering to the long cheliform fore-arms of the scorpion . . . . eyes two, and placed on the top of the head, between the base of the jaws; the colour generally is sandy-brown, and the body soft, and clothed with short mouse-coloured hairs; the limbs, and especially the palpi, are furnished with long coarse hairs. . . . In seizing its prey, one pair of jaws keeps hold, while the other is advanced to cut; and they thus alternately advance and hold till the victim is sawed in two. The only sound they emit is a hissing or rustling, caused by the friction of the two pair of chelæ, as they are advanced and withdrawn; this is only heard when the spider is suddenly disturbed or irritated.'

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Such are the habits and peculiarities of the Galeodes vorax-— a species generally regarded with disgust and aversion. It is found in most parts of India, in the Burman empire and in Afghanistan, where it has been mistaken for the tarantula. In cases where they fix their habitation in a garden, these great spiders have been known to render good service by devouring larvæ, grubs, cockroaches, and other noxious insects; and there is no reason to doubt that they serve some wise and useful purpose in the general economy of nature.

FOREIGN SPIDERS OF VARIOUS GENERA.

Speaking of the zoology of Rio de Janeiro, Mr Darwin observes that the number of spiders, in proportion to insects, is there, as compared with England, very much larger. "The variety of species among the jumping spiders appears almost infinite. The genus,

or rather family, of Epeira is here characterised by many singular

forms : : some species have pointed coriaceous shells, others enlarged and spiny limbs. Every path in the forest is barricaded with the strong yellow web of a species belonging to the same division with the E. clavipes of Fabricius, which was formerly said by Sloane to make, in the West Indies, webs so strong as to catch birds. A small and pretty kind of spider, with very long fore-legs, and which appears to belong to an undescribed genus, lives as a parasite on almost every one of these webs. I suppose it is too insignificant to be noticed by the great epeira, and is therefore allowed to prey on the minute insects which, adhering to the lines, would otherwise be wasted. When frightened, this little spider either feigns death by extending its front legs, or suddenly drops from the web.

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'A large epeira, of the same division with E. tuberculata and conica, is extremely common, especially in dry situations. Its web, which is generally placed among the great leaves of the common agavé, is sometimes strengthened near the centre by a pair or even four zigzag ribbons, which connect two adjoining rays. When any large insect, as a grasshopper or wasp, is caught, the spider, by a dexterous movement, makes it revolve very rapidly, and at the same time emitting a band of thread from its spinners, soon envelops its prey in a case like the cocoon of a silk-worm. spider now examines the powerless victim, and gives the fatal bite on the hinder part of its thorax; then, retreating, patiently waits till the poison has taken effect. The virulence of this poison may be judged of from the fact, that in half a minute I opened the mesh, and found a large wasp quite lifeless. This spider always stands with its head downward near the centre of this web. When disturbed, it acts differently according to circumstances. If there is a thicket below, it suddenly falls down; and I have distinctly seen the thread from the spinners lengthened by the animal, while yet stationary, as preparatory to its fall. If the ground is clear beneath, the spider seldom falls, but moves quickly through a central passage from one to the other side. When still further disturbed, it practises a curious manoeuvre: standing in the middle, it violently jerks the web, which is attached to elastic twigs, till at last the whole acquires such a rapid vibratory movement that even the outline of the spider's body becomes indistinct.'

Though it is thus omnipotent over the majority of insects, there are some of these more than a match for the most ferocious spiders, even making their carcasses a regular article of dietary. The same authority mentions a deadly contest which he once witnessed between a pepsis and a large spider of the genus Lycosa. 'The wasp made a sudden dash at its prey, and then flew away. The spider was evidently wounded; for, trying to escape, it rolled down a little slope, but had still strength sufficient to crawl into a thick tuft of grass. The wasp soon returned, and, surprised at not immediately finding its victim, it then commenced as regular a hunt as ever

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