jr
9. THE males and females never live together, but with the greateft fear and circumfpedlon
indulge their mutual defires; in doing which they take up very little time, and, as if frighted,
feparate from each other. After fuch interruptions, however, they occafionally repeat their
' embraces, till the female being impregnated, they very foon difaffociate.
10. THE abdomen in the female, after impregnation, fwells very much; and if the belly of
a large female is opened, a large quantity of eggs may be plainly feen, which are contained in
a feparate receptacle of a long fliape, and which equals a third part of the whole abdomen.
11. Spiders are not all of equal fecundity; fome having only feven or eight eggs in a bag;
whilft others have 50, 100, or even 150 in each bag, which are feven, eight, or ten in number;
infomuch that one female may lay a thoufand eggs in a fummer.
12 THE care of the eggs and young devolves upon the females alone, diiferently in the
different fpecies ; but in moft. as in other infefts; their eggs being hatched by the warmth of
the air alone, without incubation.
13 THOUGH the young are not at firft like their parents in colour and marks; yet they
have the fame iliape as to their body, legs, &c. nor is it neceflary for them, as it is for moft
other infefts, to undergo a transformation, in order to acquire their genuine ihape. The colour
and marks come gradually, fooner in fome than in others.
14. I HAVE not obferved their age to exceed a year, but in otlier countries there may be
fpecies which are longer lived.
I ; WHETHER our Spiden, as fome are of opinion, injure men by biting, or to fpeak more
properly, by lacerating with their claws; or whether the infefts themfelves or then-excre-
L n t s imprudently fwallowed, be hurtful, muft be proved by farther experiments. I can
only fay that they have laid hold ftrongly on my fingers, and pricked them, without any
harm following, and we know that chickens and fmall birds devour them greedily without
fuffering any injury. . ^ , , ,
16, I HAVE not yet found any Spiders which are fmooth, but moft of them abound more or
lefs in briftles and prickles.
17 THEIR excrement is always fluid, and refembling muddy water.
18. I SHALL treat feparately of fuch as have two eyes only; whatever therefore is faid here
muft not be applied to them.
SECTION THE SECOND.
OF THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF SPIDERS.
19- THEIR EYES are eight in number, and placed in the fore part of the thorax. But
becaufe their different fituations, and relative fize and colour, ferve to diftinguiih the genera,
they will be noticed in the defcription of each genus.
20 THEY have EIGHT LEGS, joined to the lower fide of the thorax. Each of them has fix
joints; the joint neareft the breaft is very fiender, this is what I call xhtjunSiure of the kg.
The next to this is very thick, and may be called the thigh. Then fucceeds a nodule, which
I regard as a geniculus, with which the antepenultimate is joined, and which, being fmaller
than the thigh, may be called the tibia or leg-bone. The penultimate joint, or laft but one,
is the foot. The laft of all is the toe, on which are feated two black claws. The different
length and proportion of the legs, as well as the greater or fmaller quantity of hairs, briftles,
and prickles, will be particularized in the defcription of the different cafts and fpecies.
2 1 . As all Spiders are hairy, though in different d e g r e e s , I call the fhorter and finer hair
lanugo, or down; that which is larger and longer, hair; when ftill coarfer and harfher, brijile;
and the ftrongeft of all I name prickle, becaufe it bears a much greater refemblance to the
prickles of feveral thorny vegetables, than to hair. The prickles are found in the greateft
quantity on the legs of Spiders, and are of two forts, viz. acute and obtufe; the former are
common; the latter rare.
22. THE ARMS, which are placed obliquely under the eyes, before the legs, are hairy; and
confift at leaft of three joints. They may eafily be miftaken by inattentive obfervers for legs,
fince the animal moves them in walking, as men do their arms in running. The arms are
worthy of attention in Spiders, as they ferve to diftinguifli not only the fex, but in a great
meafure the fpecies. The males have two male organs, one feated on each arm; whence the
extremities of the arms in the two fexes are differently formed; which will be feparately explained,
fo far as my obfervations reach, by defcriptions illuftrated by figures. The arms
of all the females are ftraight, or fomewhat like a rounded pole.
23. THE HOLDERS (retinacula) are a new name, by which I diftinguiih the two moveable
limbs placed under the eyes in a perpendicular line. With thefe limbs all Spiders are furnifhed;