but when man intrudes into their communities, they lofe all their spirit of industry, and teftify but a very fmall fhare of that fagacity, for which, when in a focial ftate, they are fo remarkable.

Among infects, the labours of the bee and the ant have employed the attention and admiration of the naturalift; but their whole fagacity is loft upon feparation, and a fingle bee or ant feems deftitute of every degree of industry, is the most stupid infect imaginable, languishes for a time in folitude, and foon dies,

Of all the folitary infects I have ever remarked, the spider is the most fagacious, and its actions to me, who have attentively confidered them, feem almoft to exceed belief. This infect is formed by Nature for a state of war, not only upon other infects, but upon each other. For this ftate Nature feems perfectly well to have formed it. Its head and breaft are covered with a strong natural coat of mail, which is impenetrable to the attempts of every other infect, and its belly is inveloped in a soft pliant skin, which cludes the fting even of a wafp. Its legs are termi¬ nated by ftrong claws, not unlike those of a lobster, and their vaft length, like fpears, ferve to keep every affailant at a distance.

Not worfe furnished for obfervation than for an attack or a defence, it has feveral eyes, large, tranf parent, and covered with an horny fubftance, which, however, docs not impede its vifion. Befides this, it is furnished with a forceps above the mouth, which ferves to kill or fecure the prey already caught in its. claws or its net.

Such are the implements of war with which the body is immediately furnished; but its net to entangle the enemy feems what it chiefly trufts to, and what it takes most pains to render as complete as poffible. Nature has furnished the body of this little creature with a glutinous liquid, which proceeding

from the anus, it fpins into thread coarfer or finer, as it chufes to contract or dilate its fphincter. In order to fix its thread when it begins to weave, it emits a small drop of its liquid against the wall, which hardening by degrees ferves to hold the thread very firmly. Then receding from the first point, as it recedes the thread lengthens; and when the fpider has come to the place where the other end of the thread fhould be fixed, gathering up with his claws the thread which would otherwife be too flack, it is ftretched tightly, and fixed in the fame manner to the wall as before.

In this manner it fpins and fixes feveral threads parallel to each other, which, fo to fpeak, ferve as the warp to the intended web. To form the woof, it fpins in the fame manner its thread, tranfverfly fixing one end to the first thread that was fpun, and which is always the strongest of the whole web, and the other to the wall. All thefe threads, being newly fpun, are glutinous, and therefore ftick to each other wherever they happen to touch, and in those parts of the web moft exposed to be torn, our natural artift ftrengthens them, by doubling the threads fometimes fix fold.

Thus far naturalifts have gone in the defcription of this animal; what follows is the refult of my own obfervation upon that fpecies of the infect called an Houfe-Spider. I perceived about four years ago, a large fpider in one corner of my room, making its web, and though the maid frequently levelled her fatal broom against the labours of the little animal, I had the good fortune then to prevent its deftruction, and I may fay, it more than paid me by the entertainment it afforded.

In three days the web was with incredible diligence completed; nor could I avoid thinking that the infect feemed to exult in its new abode. It frequently traversed it round, examined the ftrength

of

of every part of it, retired into its hole, and came out very frequently. The first enemy, however, it had to encounter, was another and a much larger fpider, which, having no web of its own, and having probably exhaufted all its stock in former labours of this kind, came to invade the property of its neighbour. Soon then a terrible encounter enfued, in which the invader feemed to have the victory, and the laborious spider was obliged to take refuge in its hole. Upon this I perceived the victor ufing every art to draw the enemy from his ftrong hold. He feemed to go off, but quickly returned, and when he found all arts vain, began to demolish the new web without merey. This brought on another battle, and, contrary to my expectations, the laborious fpider became conqueror, and fairly killed his antagonist.

Now then, in peaceable poffeffion of what was juftly its own, it waited three days with the utmost impatience, repairing the breaches of its web, and taking no fuftenance that I could perceive. At last, however, a large blue fly fell into the fnare, and ftruggled hard to get loofe. The spider gave it leave to entangle itself as much as poffible, but it seemed to be too strong for the cobweb. I muft own I was greatly furprized when I faw the spider immediately fally out, and in lefs than a minute weave a new net round its captive, by which the motion of its wings was ftopped, and when it was fairly hampered in this manner, it was feized, and dragged into the hole.

In this manner it lived, in a precarious ftate, and Nature feemed to have fitted it for fuch a life, for upon a fingle fly it fubfifted for more than a week. I once put a wafp into the neft, but when the spider came out in order to feize it as ufual, upon perceiv ing what kind of an enemy it had to deal with, it instantly broke all the bands that held it fast, and con

tributed

tributed all that lay in its power to difengage fo formidable an antagonist. When the wafp was at li berty, I expected the fpider would have fet about repairing the breaches that were made in its net, but those it seems were irreparable, wherefore the cobweb was now entirely forfaken, and a new one begun, which was completed in the ufual time.

I had now a mind to try how many cobwebs a fingle spider could furnish, wherefore I deftroyed this, and the infect fet about another. When I deftroyed the other also, its whole stock seemed entirely exhaufted, and it could fpin no more. The arts it made use of to fupport itself, now deprived of its great means of fubfiftence, were indeed furprising. I have seen it roll up its legs like a ball, and lie motionless for hours together, but cautiously watching all the time; when a fly happened to approach fufficiently near, it would dart out all at once, and often feize its prey.

Of this life, however, it foon began to grow weary, and refolved to invade the poffeffion of fome other fpider, fince it could not make a web of its own. It formed an attack upon a neighbouring fortification with great vigour, and at firft was as vigorously repulfed. Not daunted, however, with one defeat, in this manner it continued to lay fiege to another's web for three days, and at length, having killed the defendant, actually took poffeffion. When fmaller flies happen to fall into the fnare, the fpider does not fally out at once, but very patiently waits till it is fure of them; for, upon his immediately approaching, the terror of his appearance might give the captive ftrength fufficient to get loofe: the manner then is to wait patiently till, by ineffectual and impotent ftruggles, the captive has wafted all its strength, and then he becomes a certain and easy conqueft.

The

The infect I am now defcribing lived three years; every year it changed its fkin, and got a new fet of legs. I have fometimes plucked off a leg, which grew again in two or three days. At firft it dreaded my approach to its web, but at laft it became fo familiar as to take a fly out of my hand, and upon my touching any part of the web, would immediately leave its hole, prepared either for a defence or an

attack.

To complete this defcription, it may be observed, that the male fpiders are much less than the female, and that the latter are eoviparous. When they come to lay, they spread a part of their web under the eggs, and then roll them up carefully, as we roll up things in a cloth, and thus hatch them in their hole. If disturbed in their holes, they never attempt to efcape without carrying this young brood in their forceps away with them, and thus frequently are facrificed to their paternal affection.

As foon as ever the young ones leave their artificial covering, they begin to fpin, and almoft fenfibly feem to grow bigger. If they have the good fortune, when even but a day old, to catch a fly, they fall too with good appetites; but they live fometimes three or four days without any fort of fuftenance, and yet ftill continue to grow larger, fo as every day to double their former fize. As they grow old, however, they do not ftill continue to increase, but their legs only continue to grow longer; and when a fpider becomes entirely ftiff with age, and unable to feize its prey, it dies at length of hunger.

THE