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PART THE FIRST.
OF SPIDERS IN GENERAL.
SECTION THE FIRST.
OF WHAT IS COMMON TO ALL SPIDERS.
I. TJNDER the denomination of Spiders, I comprehend thofe infe£ls only, whofe thorax
and abdomen cohere by a certain flender junfture; and whofe males have their
fexual organs on the arms; the females under the abdomen.
2. WHETHER Spiders can properly be faid to confift of diftinft head, fhoulders, back, and
other parts, I do not mean to enquire. For the fake of brevity as well as eafe, I call the upper
part of the trunk the thorax, or breaji; and the lower, the abdomen, or belly.
3. ALL Spiders have eight eyes, eight feet, two arms, and as many holders, each of which
are defended by a claw; they have alfo the power of emitting threads from peculiar channels
placed at the end of the abdomen; and propagate their fpecies by eggs.
4. THEY are all predacious, and fpare no living creature which is in their power to catch,
not even their own fpecies; yet fome of them are capable of fupporting abftinence for an
incredible time.
5. LIKE crabs, fnakes, and caterpillars, they cafl: their fkins; fome of them not lefs than
three times. At this period they are fubjedt to the danger of the Ichneumon, an infeft which
fattens its eggs upon them; in which cafe they afford fuftenance to the larviz of thofe infedts
at the expenfe of their own lives.
6. SOON after they have cafl: their ikin for the laft time, they acquire their perfeft fl:ature,
and firft begin to copulate.
7. THE males are commonly much rarer than the females, and it is probable that one male
is capable of impregnating feveral females. After the time of copulation, hardly any males
are to be found.
8. THE males have always a larger thorax, and a fmaller abdomen than the females. The
abdomen of the females is evidently larger, on account of the ovary, which, fwelling at the
time of their fecundation, gives them a more handfome appearance than the males.
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