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Show 168 AUACIINlDES. h owever, a S'lngle ins· tant is sufficient, as the animal employs them the mo'ment they escape from the appara~us. Those white and silky flocculi that may be observed floatmg about in sprm· g an d autumn in foggy wea. ther, vulgarly termed in F ranee fitl s de la ,r r1i error e ' are cert.a inly produced-.a s we. have sati·s f:a c t on'l y ascertained by tracmg them to their p.o mt of origin-by various young Araneides, those of the Epeme and Tll Omi·S l· par ti'culat·Iy·' they are mostly the larger thread.s , which are intended to afford points of attac~1ment to tl~e radn of ~he b or those that compose the cham, and which, becommg wmeo re' ponderous by the access of mO. isture, sm. k , approac h one another, and finally form little pellets: we frequent]~ observe them collected near the web commenced by the Spider, and in which it resides. It is also very probable that many.of t~es~ you~g animals not having as yet a sufficient supply o.f stlk, l.tmit their stt·ucture to throwing out simple threads. It IS, I. th1~k, to the young Ly· cosre that we must attribute those wluch Intersect the furrows of ploughed grounds, whose numbers a:e rendered ~o aplla· rent by the reflection of light after sunrise. By chem1~al ana· lysis, these fils de la, Vierge exhibit the same c~aracters as the web of the spider:-they are not then formed m the atmo· sphere, as, for want of proper observat~on, ex visu, that cele· brated naturalist, M. Lamarck, has conjectured. Gloves and stockings have been made with this silk; but it was f~m~d im· possible to apply the process on a large scale, and a~ ~~ IS sub· ject to many difficulties, is rather a matter of curws1:y than utility. This .substance, however, is of much greater nnpor· tance to the little animals in question. With it, the sedenta~y species, or those which do not roam abroad in search of thCir prey, weave webs(l) of a more or less compact ~issue, ~hose form and position vary according to the pecuhar hab1ts of each of them, and that are so many snares or traps, where the insects on which they feed become entangled, or are ( 1) Those of some exotic species are so strong. that small birds are entangled in them; they even oppose a certain deg•·ee of resistance to man. Pl!"LMONAUl}F •• 169 taken. No sooner is one of them arrested there by the hooks of its tarsi, than the Spider, some times placed. in the centre of his net, or at the bottom of his web, or at others lying in ambush in a peculiar domicil situated near and in one of the angles, rushes towards his victim and endeavours to pierce him with his murderous dart, distil1ing into the wound a prompt and mortal poison; should the former resist too vigorously, or should it be dangerous to the lattct· to approach it, he retreats, waiting until it has either exhausted its powers by struggling, or become more entangled in the ncq but should there be no cause of fear, he hastens to bind it by involving the body in his silken threads, with which it is sometimes completely enveloped. Lister says that Spiders dart their threads in the same way that the Porcupine darts his quills, with this difference, however, that in the latter, according to the popular belief, the spines are detached from the body, whereas in the former, these threads, though propelled to a considerable distance, always remain connected with it. The possibility of this has been denied. Be it as it may, we have seen threads issuing from the mammillre of several Thomisi form straight lines, and when the animals moved circularly, producing movable radii. A second use to which this silk is applied by all female Araneides, is in the construction of the sacs destined to contain their eggs. The texture and form of these sacs are variously modified, according to the habits of the race. They are usually spheroidal; some of them resemble a cap or tymbal, others are placed on a y>edicle, and some are claviform. They are sometimes partially enveloped with foreign bodies, such as earth, leaves, &c.; a finer material, or sort of tow or down, frequently surrounds the eggs in their interior, where they are free or agglutinated and more or less numerous. As they· are voracious animals, the males, in order to avoid a surprise and to prevent themselves from falling victims to their premature desires, approach their females in the nuptial season, \:ith the greatest circumspection and mistrust. They cautiously and repeatedly touch them, and frequently for a long v 01. II I.-'v |
