A small black spider was picked up in the woods, which had her body entirely covered with young spiders, which were evidently newly hatched. When the mother-spider was picked up, all the little spiders becoming frightened jumped off, but just before jumping each one attached a tiny thread to its mother's back, and as the spider was held up in the air there hung below, suspended by invisible threads, the whole progeny looking like little black beads. The mother-spider was then thrown down among the dead leaves, sticks, and pine-cones. She did not run away, however, but waited till all of the young ones had found their way through this tangled wilderness, safely back to their mother, and this they accomplished by means of their threads, one end of which they had previously attached to her back. Having waited till all had been gathered in this way, she continued her journey.

111. The spider has no power of throwing or ejecting its thread to distant objects, as many suppose. When threads are seen stretching from one tree to another, the spider has caused the thread to issue from the spinnerets, and the wind has then caught it and borne it along, till finally it gets entangled with some object, and in this way the spider is enabled to cross from one point to another.

These creatures are not so dangerous as many suppose, and but very few authenticated cases are known of man having been bitten by these animals; though the larger spiders at the South, and in California, as the tarantula, for example, can inflict a dangerous wound.

CHAPTER XVI.

DADDY-LONG-LEGS, CENTIPEDES, AND MILLEPEDES.

112. In the insects proper, or true insects, the pupil has learned that the head, thorax, and abdomen, are separated into three regions or parts. In the spiders, it has been seen that the head and thorax are combined, forming a single region or part, and called the cephalo-thorax, while the abdomen appears as a distinct part. There is another group of animals allied to the spiders, the individuals thereof having four pairs of legs, and the head, thorax, and abdomen, more or less merged together. The animals belonging to this group are called in various parts of the country, daddylong-legs, granddaddy-long-legs, grandfather-graybeards, and harvest-men, and in northern New York are known by the name of “grab for gray bears."

Certain species are common around houses and sheds, others are found in the woods. They are easily recognized by their small bodies and extremely long and slender legs. It is difficult to hold them in the fingers, as some of the legs are liable to drop off on the slightest effort made to retain the animals.

In the middle and on the back of the cephalo-thorax, there is a slight eminence, upon which are situated the eyes, two in number. The abdomen appears distinctly segmented.

113. Their food consists of small insects, such as flies and

PC

mosquitoes; and these they go in quest of, slyly approaching
and pouncing on their victim and seizing it with their mandi-
bles, which are furnished at their ends with a pair of nippers,
which enable them to retain their prey. (See Fig. 115, m.)

They build no net to entrap their prey, and are weak and
helpless compared with their higher relatives, the true spiders.
They are dependent then for food upon such insects as they
can overcome, and these they devour, differing in this respect
from the rapacious spiders which suck the fluid contents of
their prey, rejecting the rest. Certain species are known to

FIG. 115.-YOUNG DADDY-LONG-LEGS, ENLARGED: . showing Natural Size; B. Under Side
of Body still more enlarged: m, Mandible of Left Side: p, Palpus of Right Side: P,
Palpus, greatly enlarged; P C, End of Palpus. showing Notched Claw; L, End of Leg,
showing Claw; E, Eye-Prominence, with the Two Eyes. (The three last-mentioned Fig-
ures are greatly magnified.)

Σ

be cannibals, as some have been seen to pounce upon a brother daddy-long-legs and devour it, leaving only the legs.

It is believed that in the Northern States they do not survive the winter, as in the spring only young ones are seen, and these attain full size by autumn. At this season, the eggs are laid under stones and in the cracks of boards and other protected places, where they remain to hatch out in the following spring.

114. Under old boards in gardens and hidden beneath stones and dead leaves in the fields and woods, the pupils will find the other creatures to be studied in this lesson. They are commonly known as centipedes, and in the Eastern States, at least, are also known as earwigs; though the earwig in England is an entirely different animal, being a true six-legged insect.

The centipede belongs to a group of animals called Myriapods, and the animals belonging to this group are composed of a great many similar segments, some species having as few as ten segments, others having over two hundred segments. In this latter respect, these creatures resemble the worms, but differ from the worms in having jointed legs and antennæ, in these last-named characters resembling the insects, besides having other affinities with them in breathing air through spiracles and trachea which run through the body.

There are two very distinct groups of Myriapods; one group comprising the true centipedes, in which the body is flattened, and segments loosely joined, and the legs gener

ally equaling, and sometimes exceeding, the width of the body.

The segments in many cases are unequal in length, some of them being very short and alternating with long ones, though all bear a pair of legs below. The antennæ are much longer than the legs, and are often composed of a great many joints. A pair of modified legs reach out behind and look like a hinder pair of antennæ.

In a few forms the eyes are compound as in the insects, while in others the eyes are separate as in the spider, and are called ocelli. These are grouped on each side of the head, at the base of the antennæ..

FIG. 116.-COMMON CENTIPEDE,
NATURAL SIZE.

A magnified view of the head, showing group of eyes at the base of antennæ. A few joints only of the antennæ are shown.

115. The jaws or mandibles are large and jointed, with the terminal joint long and sharp as in the spiders. The other pairs of jointed appendages act also as mouth-parts. The under lip is notched with fine teeth, as shown in the following figure, which represents the under surface of the head of the species of centipede shown in Fig. 116.