strange noises, as of rubbing and turning, which must have been caused by the machinery used in reeling silk from her less fortunate companions; the other was, that, soon after these noises ceased, she felt the case in which all the little boxes were kept lifted and carried about, then she breathed the sea-air, and by the middle of September a cooler atmosphere; when, too, she heard great rattlings and rumblings, and at times the word Boston; which means that here in this city, where I was hatched, and where I trust you will be, my mother died on the 25th day of September, 1865.

I am sure her life might have been prolonged if water had been given her; for some of her younger companions, who had not exhausted their strength by laying eggs, lived until the Doctor was convinced of their need of water, and gave them some; then they revived, and one of them, who was set at liberty in a house of flowers, made a great web, and caught all the flies, and grew fat; but during the winter they squirted very badly-smelling water over the plants to kill the bugs, and it killed her too.

II.

AND now, my dear children, it is time to commence my own story. You have already seen that this nominally begins on the 3d day of September, 1865 when, according to my mother's account, her eggs were laid in the little box where she died. But I really knew nothing for myself until they hatched on the 4th day of October.

Now these eggs are curious things. I can't understand (nor do I believe men know any better, wise as they think themselves) how it is that a little yellow ball, not half as big as a pin's head, and filled with what look like drops of oil, should, within a few weeks after it is laid, change of itself, and become in some places harder, in others softer, with little partitions and divisions into the head and body and legs of a little round spider, with eyes and jaws and everything; but still packed away tight in the egg.

egg.

that we are not merely

These changes, however, men have watched, and have been convinced of what we knew long ago, spiders, but insects, just as much as the proud beetles and butterflies. For, although after we are hatched our head and chest are closely soldered together so as to look like one piece, yet while we are forming in the egg they are quite distinct, -as much so as the head and chest of a grasshopper. What if we don't have wings? We have eight legs, and other insects have only six; and, in fact, we don't need wings, for some of us never want to leave the earth, and others can crawl up as high as they wish and swing off, and some can spin fine silky threads, which are so light as to float in the air, and even carry the spider with them over land and water, which is a much easier way than insects have, by flapping their wings, and working so hard.

And as for being ugly, why, I have heard the Doctor say we were very handsome and far more sensible than common insects, for we never run away as they do when food or drink is put to our mouths. I would not change coats with any of them.

Well, we will let men quarrel over our names, and go back to the 4th of October, 1865, when I broke the shell of my egg and came out into the air.

Fig. 5. Young Spider (natural size and magnified).

I was one of the first, being on the outside of the mass of eggs; but this had already cracked open in several places, and within two days all my sisters and brothers had come out and pushed the shells away out into the meshes of the cocoon, so that the cavity was occupied by us. Of course we needed more room now, for our legs, though short, were active, and we were packed pretty closely, so as to resemble, the Doctor said, a white rasp

berry. How that would have frightened us a month later, after having heard that the natives of some hot countries, and even some learned persons, consider spiders very good eating, and say they taste like nuts!

For the first few days, I kept pretty quiet, and, thinking my stomach or abdomen too fat and round, while my head and legs were too thin, I occupied myself in squeezing as much as I could from my abdomen through the slender stem that supports it into my head and legs, and was glad to find them growing larger. But now the skin over these parts became stiff and dry, and would no longer stretch; and all at once, while straining hard, the skin on the top of my head snapped right up, like the lid of a box, so that I soon got my head and eyes and jaws out, and then, by pulling, split the skin on each side, near the stem, so that my abdomen could be pulled out; and now only

my legs were left, and by getting on my back, and pulling and twisting, I extricated first the third pair of legs which are short, and then the others, and my feelers or palpi; after which I kicked my old clothes out among the egg-shells, and found myself in a nice clean suit, softer and easier than the first one.

I could now spin threads by pressing my spinners against anything, and moving away from it. had no occasion to spin a great deal then, but it was good fun to climb about on the silken ropes of our cocoon, and then I always fastened a thread to

Fig. 6. Spider casting her skin. hold me if I fell.

eat.

But presently a new trouble arose: I was hungry and had nothing to When thirsty, we had always found little drops of water which were sprinkled upon the cocoon, but now we needed food too, and, seeing nothing else, I began to long for a taste of one of my plump little sisters; so one day I pretended to be very much hurt when a small one tumbled against me, and caught her in my jaws and bit her so that she died, — and then, of course, I might as well eat her. So I did, and after this, although I was sorry to lose my little sisters, I had to eat them, for there was no other food, and if some did not eat others, all would starve.

Men are very much shocked at what they call our natural cannibalism, but I am quite certain that, if five hundred of them were shut up in a small room, with nothing to eat, the men would soon eat the little boys. To be sure we are very different from men, and it might not be proper for them, but it is evidently the thing we are intended to do. The little spiders are like many shoots on an apple-tree in the spring, some of which must be cut off to let the rest grow better. But I think you understand it, and need only tell you always to select the smallest, for the larger will make the best spiders when they grow up, and do most credit to our race; and besides, a big one might object to being eaten, and do you an injury, or even eat you herself.

We never felt ugly toward each other, though, I must say, that to be large and eat, is nicer than to be small and be eaten. I have never mentioned my brothers. I don't think I had any, and I hope you will never see any either. Gentlemen spiders, they call themselves. They are a disgrace to our family, little, dried-up, good-for-nothing creatures. Why, they look as if they had stopped growing when only a quarter of an inch long, while we keep on till we are more than an inch in length, and are as handsome as can be. I know we abuse our brothers and husbands sometimes, and even eat them up; but it is their own fault, for they never do anything, and are always in the way, and if they are really treated unjustly, why, let them hold a convention and assert their rights.

Fig. 7. Male
Spider.

Well, on the 1st of November we were carefully put into a glass jar, which was kept mouth downward. This gave us light and plenty of room, especially now that only one hundred of us were left. We now ventured out of the cocoon and spun a loose web of lines crossing in all directions, so that we could hang on them and climb about. Soon after this, a great bluebottle, crushed, was dropped into our midst. At it we rushed, and as many as could plunged their sharp teeth into it and sucked away at the juicy flesh. And now every day was given us a fly or a cockroach, and by and by we did not hesitate to attack them even when alive, and seldom felt obliged to devour one another.

On the 20th of November, I, being the largest of all, was put into a jar all alone. I soon forgot my companions, and set about making a nice new web, three inches wide, and not in the least like the one we all lived in together; for it was flat like a wheel, and the lines were regular and carefully made, so that when finished it was very handsome. Over some of the

threads I spread a soft gum, which presently ran into little globules or beads, which shone in the sun like pearls.

I shall not be able to tell you all about this web, and the many others I made afterward, and will only give you a few hints, the result of my long experience. Ist. Never make your webs right up and down, as people think spiders' webs are made, but always slanting a little, so that your bodies may hang away from the web, and not touch the sticky threads. 2d. Never make them of circular or spiral lines, as common spiders do, but spin your cross-lines in loops running from side to side over the radii, but not going all the way round, so that the web is not circular, but oval, with the greater part below the point where the straight lines meet, and then, as you hang head downward, you can feel where an insect is, when it touches the web, and dart to it without turning about. 3d. If the insect seems to be a large one, never seize it until you have touched it all over with your front legs, and measured its size and strength; then, if it is safe, bite it in a soft place, and hold on till it is almost dead; then turn it over between your palpi (feelers) and third pair of legs, and reel out silk upon it with your hind legs till it cannot move, and finally hang it up and eat it at your leisure. 4th. When your web becomes dry and dusty or rent, you can tear down as much as is necessary, and renew it; but never throw the old part away till you have chewed it up and swallowed all the gum, so that only the dust and the dry silk are left. 5th. Always build your webs during the night, or just before day, so that they may be fresh and sticky next morning; but it is better to cast your skins during the day, while the other spiders are quiet, and then by evening your skin will have dried, so that you need not fear them if they move about during the night.

In this manner I lived on alone, and, having plenty to eat, soon grew to be nearly an inch in length. I had already cast my skin several times, and when the operation had to be gone through with again I felt it a great bore to have to stop eating for several days, to make the old skin more loose and easy to come off, and then to spend a whole half-hour in getting it off and hanging by my thread while I pumped fluid through the stem from my abdomen into my head and legs, so that when the new skin dried they would be larger than before; for you see I was lazy and fat, and did not like so much exertion.

And so this time, after my body was all out, I thought matters could be hastened; and when the first two legs on my left side seemed to stick, I grew impatient and gave a jerk; and snap! off went the first leg close to

my body. To be sure it did not hurt me much, for you know we have the power of casting off our legs at the second joint from the body without bleeding to death, as we might if injured in other places; but this is only to save our lives when we are caught by the legs. So I was very sorry indeed, for I had always been rather vain of my good looks.

There I hung by the thread coming from my spinners, and by the second leg, which seemed to be twisted and indisposed to come out. I dared not struggle, for fear of losing it also, but toward night, the Doctor, thinking I might die if unrelieved, tried to help me ; but at the first touch the already over-strained parts gave way, and off came my second leg, leaving me alive, though dreadfully weak and a cripple for life.

This was on the 7th of January. The next morning I was put into a fresh jar, where, during the night, I tried to make a web; but I was so awkward with only six legs that it was a very poor one. However, it was good enough to catch the little flies and cockroaches that were dropped upon it.

The truth is, although it was well enough to be par- Fig. 9. Spider after castticular when we had to catch our food in our webs, and ing her skin. each spider wished hers to be the largest and best, yet now, when food is put into our mouths, it is not worth while to spend so much time and trouble; and it is much easier, too, to suck water from the end of a stick or brush, than to run over the web after a shower, and pick up a drop here and there.

On the 4th of February I moulted again, and this time was careful not to pull off any more legs. In fact I was a little disappointed not to find two new ones in place of those I had already lost, as might have been the case if I had been younger; but so far from this, the Doctor, in trying to cut down my old skin, snipped off the end of my left hinder leg. He seemed to feel very sorry, and spoke of ordering some "artificial legs" for me, but they never came, and, though I lost only a drop of blood, and soon recovered, I missed this foot more than the other two; for, as you know, the hind legs are used to draw out the silk from the spinners, and wind it over the insects we have caught, to guide the thread while we spin, and, finally, to support the weight of our bodies as we hang in the web. However, I was soon strong again, and, on being put into a large glass case with others, found myself larger than any of them, and treated them just as I pleased, which, I regret to say, was not very kindly; I demolished their webs for fun, and, if they complained, threatened to demolish them too. But I was punished for this, for while preparing to cast my skin, and feeling, as all spiders do at that time, weak and sluggish, I was attacked by one whom I had abused, and should have been slain if I had not cast off the leg which she had seized, and fallen