ery
close tissue, formed of two round pieces uniting at their borders. It
supports this cocoon under its corselet by means of its antennulae, and
transports it along with itself. When hard-pressed by its enemies, it
abandons it for a time, but returns to take it up as soon as the combat
is concluded. Nearly two thousand eggs are contained in these cocoons.

The young ones when they appear are entirely white, gradually assuming
the colour of the adult.

The falces, or reaping-hook claws, of the great crab-spider are of
enormous size, and ai-e sometimes set in gold and used as toothpicks,
from the idea that they possess some medicinal virtue to cure the
toothache.

The different species vary very much in their habits. One big fellow--
the Mygale Blondii--forms a broad slanting gallery about two feet in
length, the sides of which he lines beautifully with silk. Just before
sunset he may be seen keeping watch near the mouth of his tunnel,
disappearing suddenly when he hears a heavy foot-tread near his
hiding-place.

Many are of the most showy colours. Some double themselves up at the
base of leaf-stalks, so as to resemble a flower, and thus deceive the
insects on which they prey. One of the most extraordinary in
appearance--the Arosoma arcuatum--has two curved, bronze-coloured
spines, an inch and a half in length, proceeding from its abdomen. It
spins a large web, those huge spikes apparently being no impediment to
its work.

BEES AND WASPS.

Bees and wasps of a countless number of species abound in every region
of the continent. Some build their habitations, composed of a papery
substance, attached to the under side of the broad leaves of the tucuma
and other palms. Others, again, form them in hollow trees, or among
their roots in the earth. Many build in houses, or pierce their mud
walls till they look as if riddled with shot. Others make holes in the
ground, especially in sandy places. Others, again, construct their
habitations of clay, and fasten them to the boughs of trees or to
buildings. There are, indeed, mason bees, carpenter bees, and miner
bees and wasps.

Watch the little, pale green bombex, or sand-wasp, at work, throwing out
with its fore-feet jets of sand from the hole it is forming in the
sloping bank. In a wonderfully short time the female miner has formed a
gallery two or three inches in length. Out she backs, making a few
turns round the entrance to admire her work--or, probably,