was over. "We cannot read the history of "the plagues which God brought "upon Pharaoh by the hands of "Moses, without stopping a mo"ment to consider a singularity, "Of all that have written upon "these countries, the prophet "Isaiah alone has given an account "of this animal, and the manner of "its operation. And it shall "come to pass, in that day, that "the Lord shall hiss for the fly "that is in the uttermost part of the "rivers of Egypt.-And they shall "come, and shall rest all of them "in the desolate vallies, and in the "holes of the rocks, and upon all "thorns, and upon all bushes.'-"that then a law was given to "Isaiah, ch. 17, v. 18, 19.". By the expression of resting in the desolate vallies, &c. Mr. Bruce understands the prophet to mean, "that they shall cut off from the "cattle their usual retreat to the "desert, by taking possession of "those places, and meeting them "where ordinarily they never "come, and which, therefore, are "the refuge of the cattle. very principal one, which attend"ed this plague of the fly. It was "not till this time, and by means of "this insect, that God said he would "separate his people from the 66 Egyptians. And it would seem "them that fixed the limits of their "habitation. It is well known, as "I have repeatedly said, that the "land of Goshen, or Geshen, the "possession of the Israelites, was a land of pasture, which was not "tilled or sown, because it was not "overflowed by the Nile. But the land overflowed by the Nile was "the black earth of the valley of "Egypt, and it was here that God "Providence," says Mr. Bruce, confined the flies; for, he says, "from the beginning, it would it shall be a sign of this separaseem, had fixed its habitation to "tion of the people, which he had one species of soil, being a black, "then made, that not one fly "fat earth, extraordinary fruitful" should be seen in the sand, or as it was, it seems from the first "pasture ground, the land of Go"to have given a law to the settle-shen, and this kind of soil has "ment of the country. It prohi- "ever since been the refuge of all "bited absolutely those inhabitants "cattle emigrating from the black "of the fat earth, called Mazaga, "earth, to the lower part of At"domiciled in caves and mountains, "bara. Isaiah, indeed, says, that 3 G 2 the 66 the fly shall be in all the de "sert places, and consequently the "sands; yet this was a particular "dispensation of providence, to answer a special end, the desola"tion of Egypt, and was not a "repeal of the general law, but a "confirmation of it; it was an ex"ception, for a particular purpose, " and a limited time." Mr. Bruce adds that this insect has no sting, but that its motion is more rapid than that of the bee, and resembles that of the gad-fly in England; and that there is something particular in its sound or buzzing. It is a jarring noise, together with a humming, which induces Mr. Bruce to suppose that it proceeds, at least in part, from a vibration made with the three hairs at the snout. He observes farther, that the Chaldee version is content with calling this animal simply zebub, which signifies the fly in general, as we express it in English. 'The markable species, without any particular division of the genus. One of the largest of the Euro. pean spiders is the aranea diadema of Linnæus, which is extremely common in our own country, and is chiefly seen during the autumnal season in gardens, &c. The body of this species, when full grown, is not much inferior in size to a small hazel uut: the general colour of the animal is deep chesnut-brown, approaching to reddish in some specimens, and the abdomen is beautifully marked by a longitudinal series of round or drop-shaped milk-white spots, crossed by others of similar appearance, so as to represent in some degree the pattern of a small diadem. This spider, in the months of September and October, forms, in some convenient spot or shelter, a large round, close, or thick web of yellow silk, in which it deposits its eggs, guarding the round web with a secondary one of a looser texture. The young are hatched in the ensuing May, the parent insects dying towards the close of autumn. The male of this species is distinguished by hav ing the back crossed by four or five black-brown bars. The aranea the common spiders, serves to diadema, being one of the largest of exemplify some of the principal characters of the genus in a clearer manner than most others. At the tip of the abdomen are placed five* papillæ or teats, through which the insect draws its thread; and as each of these papillæ is furnished with a vast number of foramina or outlets, disposed over its whole surface, it follows that what we commonly term In some species four; and in some are two smaller papillæ, the nature of which is doubtful. term a spider's thread is in reality formed of a collection of a great many distinct ones; the animal possessing the power of drawing out more or fewer at pleasure; and if it should draw from all the foramina at once the thread might consist of many hundred distinct filaments. The eyes, which are situated on the upper part or front of the thorax, are eight in number, placed at a small distance from each other, and having the appearance of the stemmata in the generality of insects. The fangs or piercers, with which the animal wounds its prey, are strong, curved, sharp-pointed, and each furnished on the inside, near the tip, with a small oblong hole or slit, through which is evacuated a poisonous fluid into the wound made by the point itself, these organs operating in miniature on the same principle with the fangs in poisonous serpents. The feet are of a highly curious structure; the two claws with which each is terminated being furnished on its under side with several parallel processes resembling the teeth of a comb, and enabling the animal to dispose and manage with the utmost facility the disposition of the threads in its web, &c. Aranea tarantula, or tarantula spider, of which so many idle recitals have been detailed in the works of the learned, and which even to this day continues, in some countries, to exercise the faith and ignorance of the vulgar, is a native of the warmer parts of Italy and other warm European regions, and is generally found in dry and sunny plains. It is the largest of all the European spiders, and is of a brown colour, with the back of the abdomen marked by a row of trigonal black spots with whitish edges, and the legs marked beneath by black and white bars. In the present illuminated period it may be suffi cient to observe that the extraordi. nary symptoms supposed to ensue from the bite of this insect, as well as their supposed cure by the power of music alone, are entirely. fabu. lous, and are now sufficiently explod ed among all rational philosophers. Aranea nobilis is a very beautiful species, of middling size, with an orange-coloured thorax, marked by six black spots, and an oval, yellow abdomen, with seven oval black spots, the first of which is situated immediately behind the thorax, while the remainder are disposed into two longitudinal rows: the legs are yellow, with the last joints black. This elegant spider is a native of Sumatra. Aranea scenica is a small species by no means uncommon during the summer months, and generally seen on walls in gardens, &c. it is of a black colour, with the abdomen marked on each side, the upper part by three white bars. This spider is one of those which spring suddenly, to some distance, on their prey. Aranea extensa is a smallish species, of a fine green colour, accompanied by a slight silvery gloss: it is common in gardens, and is almost always seen with the legs extended, in a parallel line with the body. Aranea lavipes is of a grey colour, varied with minute black specks, and with the legs beautifully crossed by numerous alternate black and white bars. Aranea palustris is of a lengthened form, and of a brown colour, and is principally seen in damp or watery placos. 3 G 3 Aranea Aranea aquatica is a middle-sized is drawn up from one of the largest species of a deep chesnut-colour, specimens in the Leverian Museum: residing entirely under water, its colour is an uniform dusky brown. generally in very clear ponds or fountains, and forming for itself a small tissue or web confining a proper quantity of air: sometimes this species is observed to take possession of a vacant shell, in which case it closes the mouth with a slight web. The exact distinction of species in this genus, especially among the smaller kinds, is often extremely difficult and uncertain; since the animals are sometimes differently marked during the different periods of their life: some however are in this respect perfectly constant, bearing the same distribution of colours from their first hatching to their latest period. The gigantic Aranea avicularia or bird-catching spider is too remarkable an insect to be passed over in silence. This enormous spider is not uncommon in many parts of the East Indies and South America, where it resides among trees; frequently seizing on small, birds, which it destroys by wounding with its fangs, and afterwards sucking their blood: the slit or orifice near the tip of the fangs in spiders, through which the poisonous fluid is evacuated, and the existence of which has sometimes afforded so much matter of doubt among naturalists, is in this species so visible that it may be distinctly perceived without the assistance of a glass. This animal appears to admit of some varieties, differing both in size and colour; or rather, it is probable that several species, really distinct, have been often confounded in the works of naturalists under one common title. This account During the early part of the last century a project was entertained by a French gentleman, Mons. Bon of Montpellier, of instituting a manufacture of spider's silk, and the royal academy, to which the scheme was proposed, appointed the inge nious Reaumur to repeat the experiments of Mons. Bon, in order to ascertain how far the proposed plan might be carried; but, after making the proper trials, Mr. Reaumur found it to be impracti cable, on account of the natural disposition of these animals, which is such as will by no means admit of their living peaceably together in large numbers. Mr. Reaumur also computed that 663,522 spiders would scarcely furnish a single pound of silk. Mon's. Bon how. ever, the first projector, carried his experiments so far as to obtain two or three pair of stockings and glover of this silk, which were of an ele gant grey colour, and were presented, as samples, to the royal academy, It must be observed that in this manufacture it is the silk of the eggbags alone that can be used, being far stronger than that of the webs. Mons. Bon collected twelve or thir teen ounces of these, and having caused them to be well cleared of dust, by properly beating with sticks, he washed them perfectly clean in warm water. After this they were laid to steep, in a large vessel, with soap, salt-petre, and gum arabic. The whole was left to boil over a gentle fire for three hours, aud were afterwards again washed to get out the soap; then laid to dry for some days, after which they were carded, but with much smaller cards than ordinary. The silk is easily spun into a fine and strong thread: the difficulty being only to collect the silk-bags in sufficient quantity. Mons. Reaumur, among his objections, states that the thread, notwithstanding Mr. Bon's description, is far inferior to that of the silkworm both in lustre and strength: the thread of the spider's web, according to this author, bears a weight of only twelve grains without breaking; whereas that of the silkworm bears the weight of thirtysix. The egg-bags used for the purpose were, probably, those of the aranea diadema, and others nearly allied to it. age, and seems possessed but in an inferior degree by those which are full grown. It is principally in the autumnal season that these diminu tive adventurers ascend the air, and contribute to fill it with that infinity of floating cobwebs which are so peculiarly conspicuous at that period of the year. When inclined to make these aerial excursions, the spider ascends some slight eminence, as the top of a wall, or the branch of a tree, and, turning itself with its head to. wards the wind, ejaculates * (accor ding to Dr. Lister) several threads, and, rising from its station, commits itself to the gale and is thus carried far beyond the height of the loftiest towers, and enjoys the pleasure of a clearer atmosphere. During their flight it is probable that spiders employ themselves in catching such minute winged insects as may happen to occur in their progress; and when satisfied with their journey and their prey, they suffer themselves to fall, by contracting their limbs, and gradually disengaging themselves from the thread which supports them. This curious particular in the history of spiders was first observed by Dr. Hulse, about the year 1668, and was soon confirmed by Dr. Lister and Mr. Ray. Dr. Lister made several very accurate observations on this subject, and even ascended some of the highést edifices on purpose to observe it, and saw spiders sailing as far as the eye could reach above these, till at length they vanished from his view. (See Phil. Trans. No. 50. p. 1014.) 3G 4 We have before observed that these insects are but ill calculated for living in society. Whenever thus stationed, they never fail to wage war with each other. The females in particular are of a disposition peculiarly capricious and malignant, and it is observed that if the male happens to pay his courtship at an unfavourable moment, the female suddenly springs upon him and destroys him. On this occasion, says Linæus, if ever, may be justly applied the Ovidian line Res est solliciti plena timoris amor! There remains one more particularity in the history of spiders with which I shall conclude the description of the genus, viz. the power of flight. This is chiclly exercised by those of less advanced Description * The ejaculation or darting of the threads is doubted by Swammerdam and some others, who rather suppose that the threads are driven by the wind from the papille of the animal. |