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tion of the spectacle. Taouist priests by two, gorgeously robed in amber satin vestments, stiff with brocade and gold embroidery; to glean some idea of whose "shape and sheen," says the Recorder, you must examine the pall of Ambroise of Milan, in Vandyke's well-known picture.

Amongst these people, all very busy in accomplishing but little, I was trying to live on nothing per diem. During the day I would wander about the city, and occasionally give its inhabitants a lesson in economy by consuming a pine-apple, shaddock, or mango that had been rejected by others.

In the evening I would walk out of town, where, undisturbed by its inhabitants, I could find a night's lodging in some cinnamon-garden or grove of cashewnut-trees. A man who lives in Ceylon must be in

for any one who is constitutionally indolent, and wishes relief from the infirmity. Day and night existence demands a constant warfare against myriads of sand-flies and other annoyances, small in form, but great in the effect of disturbing repose.

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After this glittering group a scarcely less gorgeous band of Bhuddist priests came, clad in scarlet, then a troop of by no means clean children, rather dirty little beggars, in fact. After whom, in the deceased's chair, veiled in red crape, the Shintsu-Ba, a myste-dustrious, and I recommend the place as a residence rious tablet considered the seat of the human soul, now in happiness, and closely veiled lest it be perturbed by beholding the sorrow of those he loved. More Bhuddist priests of second rank followed in profusely embroidered green robes; then a closely clustered mass of tall narrow silk and satin banners inscribed with sentences recommending the soul of A soft bed of snow and a blanket of ice were all I the departed to the genii, and recording his good then desired for perfect happiness; but such luxuacts in this life to insure him a kind reception in theries are not to be had in Ceylon. If I did wrong in next. Then another instance of Chinese contradic- leaving my ship, I was amply punished for it. In tion, — the “Djur Lan," or mourning lantern, hung the frenzy of struggling to maintain an existence before the dead man's face to enable him to recog- against the myriads of tormentors all anxious to imnize his friends in the next world. press upon me some record of their love and hatred, I arranged my frantic powers of thought into a resolution to take the first opportunity of getting once more upon the water. A small brig was about to sail for the Bay of Condatchy, and I joined it as one of the crew, with the promise that I should be employed in the pearl-fishery when the vessel reached its destination. It was the first chance I had of leaving Colombo; a better might have been found the same day; but I had acquired all the experience of a vagabond life in that city that I deemed necessary for future use, and would run no risk in enlarging it.

The friends of the deceased then followed with his adopted son, and in the coarse grass-cloth garments I have before mentioned; the coffin from Lintin, now covered with green instead of crimson, and surmounted by a paper representation of the "SeenHok," or Fairy Stork. This long cortége was closed by thirty-nine chairs containing the wives in mourning garments, and their friends crowned with chaplets of white china-asters. With such pomp and circumstance (writes the Recorder) was Takee borne to the Joss-house near the Maloo, then through the streets to the river-side, where, amidst salvos of cannon, his body was placed on board the steamer Kiangse, which was to convey it to the last restingplace at Ningpo.

Takee's wealth is reputed to be one million taels (about a third of a million sterling), and we were told by a mandarin, at the lying-in-state, that the cost of it, the chow-chowing, priests, pageant, and other outlay, till the coffin was deposited in the grave at Ningpo, would amount to 50,000 taels (fifty thousand taels), which statement we took cum grano salis, but we were more inclined to believe this buttoned grandee when he said that four hundred candles were nightly consumed in lighting the house.

WHAT I SAW OF THE PEARL-FISHERY.

I. CEYLON.

EARLY in the month of February, 1859, I found myself in the streets of Colombo, in the Island of Ceylon. How I came there need not concern the reader at present, though I may say that ill usage drove me to leave my ship without receiving the money due to me for wages.

The brig belonged to a Colombo merchant, who had purchased at auction the right of fishing on an oyster-bed that had lately been surveyed and sold by the government. The vessel was freighted with stores for the use of those who had been engaged for the fishery, and was commanded by a native of Colombo, of Portuguese descent, named Manos. Aboard the brig were several men who had been engaged as divers. They were called Marawas, and were most of them natives of Tuticorum. They had no duty to perform on the vessel, and seldom spoke but to each other. A high opinion of their profession or business evidently made them above associating too freely with those who have never tried to make themselves amphibious; but why they had conceived this exalted opinion of themselves I

was unable to learn.

Four days after leaving Colombo we anchored in the Bay of Condatchy, and I again found myself on the animated soil of Ceylon, where the insects were quite as numerous, inquisitive, impertinent, and bloodthirsty as those of the place we had left.

We landed near a village containing about twelve The fear of being again put under the command hundred inhabitants, most of them miserable-lookof those I disliked prevented me from visiting that ing wretches, and many of them apparently suffering part of the town where the principal European resi-evils from which death would seem a relief. dents of the place were dwelling, and I was compelled to acquire some knowledge of the inhabitants of that part of the city occupied by the descendants of the Dutch and Portuguese, and of the Pettah, or native quarter of Colombo.

The Pettah presented a fine school for acquiring some knowledge of the different races found in the East; for it then contained a population of about thirty-five thousand souls, including Malays, Moors, Lentoos, Parsees, and native Cingalese.

Every species of animal and vegetable life seemed in its proper home excepting man, who was apparently maintaining a miserable, uncertain existence, in opposition to the efforts nature was making to remove him from the island.

II. PEARL-FISHING.

WE found Condatchy Bay the scene of much animation; for more than one hundred and fifty boats, principally from the Coromandel and Malabar

coasts, had reached the bay, and their crews were making preparations for engaging in pearl-fishing, which was not to commence until the 16th of the month, three days after our arrival.

An oyster-bank is divided into five parts, only one of which is fished in a year, and each in turns. This prevents the bank from being completely stripped, and gives the young oysters a chance of reaching maturity. The right of fishing on certain portions of the bank is sold at auction to the highest bidder, and purchased by speculative merchants, who generally lose money in the business. This, however, does not prevent them from engaging in it, since there is a chance of a large fortune being made at it in one season.

Each fishing-boat is manned by twenty men, besides a tindal, or man acting as pilot, who has authority over all the others. Ten of the twenty men are divers; the others attend on them, pull the boat, and perform all other duties.

The oyster-banks off Condatchy are about twenty miles from the shore; and early on the evening of the 15th more than a hundred boats were manned by men anxiously waiting for the signal for them to start for their respective fishing-grounds.

At ten o'clock in the evening a gun was fired at Arippo. It was a signal that the boats might start; and setting a sail to catch the land-breeze, then fairly on its way for the sea, we started. I had consented to form one of the ten of a boat's crew, whose duty consisted in managing the boat and looking after the divers; and, on our first excursion out, Senhor Manos, who had commanded the brig, was our tindal, or pilot.

ness.

We reached our station a little before sunrise, and preparations were immediately commenced for busiThe divers divested themselves of all clothing except a small piece of calico about the loins; and to a belt around the waist each fastened a small net to hold the oysters. Each had a piece of iron weighing about ten pounds, to which was tied a small line with a loop in which a foot could be inserted. These weights were to enable them to descend with greater rapidity to the bottom; for, as they could only remain under water from one minute and a half to two minutes, it was necessary that no time should be lost on the way down.

All came up within a few seconds of each other, and each had not less than one hundred oysters in the net. The diver attached to the line I was holding was the first to make an appearance, and required much more force in pulling him up than what I thought was necessary; but as he reached the surface, the reason of this was immediately seen. He was bearing in his hands a mass of oysters adhering together, which he had succeeded in detaching from a rock with his knife. The mass could not have weighed less than forty pounds.

The other five divers immediately went down; and in this way the work was carried on until noon, the divers having gone down about forty times each since the time they commenced in the morning. The sea-breeze had then commenced blowing, and we started for the shore.

Thus far we had been fortunate; and yet there was a possibility that in the many bushels of oysters we had secured there might not be a pearl of the value of one shilling. But with this possibility there was another: the cargo we had procured might be worth five or ten thousand pounds.

On reaching the shore the oysters were taken from the boat, put into a pit, and then covered over with matting and some earth, there to die and decompose. The shells would then be open, when they would be picked over, and the pearls, if they contained any, would be extracted.

More than two thousand men had been at work on the banks that day, and many tons of oysters had been taken from their homes to die.

66

What,” thought I, "can be the real cause of this labor, this waste of time for a substance that is of no practical use to mankind?"

To many of those I had seen employed that day an answer to this question would have been very simple. They would have told me that they were working for money; but I looked beyond this for the real cause of their toil.

The conclusion at which I arrived may be wrong, perhaps worse,-ungallant; for all this wicked waste of time I ascribed to the fact that ladies have vanity. From the result of this infirmity thousands of others have to suffer. It seems that the law of nature, that from the misfortunes of a few many must suffer, applies to pearl-oysters as well as human beOne end of the small line attached to the weightings; for since being in the fishery I have learned was retained in the boat, to enable us to recover the weight after the diver had reached the bottom and withdrawn his foot from the loop. Although there were ten divers in each boat, only five went over at a time. This enabled each to have a rest, and still kept the work constantly going on.

Each man before going over had placed around his body, under the arms, a line by which he could be pulled to the surface, the end of the line being held by one of the crew in the boat; and as an additional precaution against danger, a line was hanging from the stem of the boat, and sunk with a weight to the bottom.

With a knife in one hand, and firmly grasping the nose with the other, five of our divers went over the side, and rapidly disappeared below, while those in the boats saw that the lines attached to their bodies ran out clear, and stood ready to pull them up, should the signal be given for us to do so.

This was the first work of the kind I had ever seen performed, and the minute and a half or more in which we waited for the shaking of the lines, which was the signal for us to haul up, seemed to me a period of nearly ten minutes.

that only oysters in ill-health produce pearls; yet the misfortunes of the afflicted bring all from their beds in the sea to the earth-pits to die.

III. THE PILLAR KARRAS.

In the evening after we had unloaded the boat, many reports reached us of the events of the day. All were favorable for the prospect of a good season at the fishery; for we heard no complaints as to want of success in procuring oysters. Other reports, however, gave the fear that the business of procuring was to be followed with danger; for we heard of three or four encounters with sharks, in one of which a diver had been killed.

For each boat employed on the pearl-banks there is a priest, whose business is to protect the divers from sharks. During the time the boats are out, these men are supposed to be engaged in prayers and other ceremonies thought necessary for the protection of those who have employed them. The pearl-divers will not work unless there is some one, either in the boat or on shore, who is paid by their employers for protecting them from sharks. The priests or conjurers are called Pillar Karras, or

Every Saturday,

March 17, 1866.]

WHAT I SAW OF THE PEARL-FISHERY.

"binders of sharks"; and their exertions in behalf of the divers are certainly of great assistance; for the superstitious men place the utmost confidence in their labors, and the absence of fear is necessary in encountering any danger.

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IV. THE MARAWAS.

THE Marawas are generally quiet, inoffensive living, and yet they are not easily induced to do men, simple in their amusements and manner of anything against which they have the slightest objection.

The season in which fishing on the pearl-banks is
allowed only lasts six weeks, but in that time only
about twenty-five days' work is performed by the
divers.

Frequently all refuse to go out in the boats, and
will give no reason for doing so. There is no use in
their pleasure.
trying to compel them, and all others have to wait

The Pillar Karras work very hard for the money they receive for their services, and the contortion of their bodies and features when engaged in their conjurations or prayers is painful to witness. Frequently, when a diver is killed by a shark, the priest employed to protect him from harm has to make a sudden departure from the scene of his labors to avoid the vengeance of the lost man's companions, who pronounce him an impostor, incapable of commanding or exercising the power necessary tecting them from the enemy they fear. So great is the superstition of the pearl-divers, One of the divers of the boat to which I belonged that each firmly believes his preservation from day to day is wholly owing to the labors of the priest. They know that thousands of sharks are cruising the was an exception to this rule: a man who looked tropic seas where the occupation of pearl-diving is and talked somewhat differently from his companfollowed; they also know that this enemy to man ions, and who, with some of them, was a little inand everything else is ever hungry; and they re-clined to be quarrelsome. Uneven in disposition, quire no further exercise of reason to believe that the "shark-binders" have saved them from being devoured.

The Pillar Karras generally remain on shore, and during the time the divers are at work they must be constantly engaged in prayer. Should one of the Marawas be seized by a shark, it is fully believed by his companions that at that particular instant the priest was neglecting his duty, and that his thoughts for a moment have been turned upon some sinful theme, giving the shark an opportunity of seizing its victim.

Before we had been employed on the pearl-banks a week, two incidents occurred that strongly confirmed the Marawas in their superstitious belief in the power of their priests.

There was a great commotion in a boat lying next to the one in which I was employed. The line attached to one of their divers commenced rapidly All who witnessed this knew the running out. cause, and the Marawas were pulled to the surface. One of them never appeared again. He had been taken away by a shark. The companions of the lost man, having no confidence in their Pillar Karras, would go under water no more that day; and the boat returned to shore, the Marawas in it cursing their "binder of sharks" for what they thought his criminal neglect, while those in our boat seemed very grateful for the good fortune that had given them a conjurer whose incantations had protected them from the evil that had befallen others so near by.

On reaching the shore in the evening we heard what the Marawas thought a satisfactory explanation of the reason why the diver had been lost. While energetically engaged in performing his duty, the Pillar Karras employed in protecting the divers belonging to the boat from which the man had been lost, had been bitten by a cobra de cappello, or hooded snake, and had died about three hours afterwards.

Here, in the opinion of the Marawas, was positive proof of the necessity of a Pillar Karras to protect them from their enemy. A priest had been interrupted in his ceremonies and prayers, and the consequence had been the loss of a life placed in his The priest was buried that evening by the men who had been cursing him but a few hours before for what they thought neglect of duty.

care.

There is a great similarity in their appearance, and one is seldom met who possesses much character not common to others.

he was also fond of playing practical jokes. When
merry moods, he often seriously interrupted our
this man, who was called Latta, was in one of his
work, and by his conduct brought upon himself the
ill-will of his companions.

Usually when a diver first reaches the bottom
A favorite amusement of Latta's was
there will be a few feet of slack to the line attached
to his body.
to shake the rope fastened to one of his companions
in such a manner that the motion would be percep-
was attached would know nothing of its having been
tible to those above, while the person to whom it
to haul up the line; and, knowing that the man had
agitated. This would be a signal for those above
would not be given without some good reason, and
just gone down, they would suppose that the signal
would lose no time in bringing the man to the sur-
face.

The astonished diver who had given no signal,
and in ignorance that any had been given, would
find himself dragged up immediately after coming
down, and would use some strong Malabar language
in expressing his opinion of those who had been
exerting themselves in obeying the signal. Here
was never lost.
would be a fine opportunity for a controversy, which

The diver would swear that he had not given a signal, and we in the boat would be as certain that he had. On one occasion, when the same man had been suddenly pulled up twice within an hour, with the fear that he should have to take the lives Senhor Manos, the tindal, was strongly impressed of two men, to prevent them from killing each other. Latta was at last detected in his amusement, and emphatically threatened with death should he again offend in the same manner.

He was

Before we had been three weeks on the banks, this man had made an enemy of nearly every other belonging to the boat; but an enemy more mercihim one day, and he was seen no more. less than man was in search of Latta. It found Latta taken away by a shark, and his loss was further proof to our Marawas of the power and wisdom of the conjurer retained for their special use. they pronounced unworthy of the priest's care, alleging that he had therefore been allowed to meet the fate of the unprotected.

So inconsistent are the thoughts of the superstitious divers, that the loss of Latta apparently in

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spired our Marawas with more confidence in the | power of the Pillar Karras to save them. Had the shark selected another, our priest, in their opinion, would have deserved some severe punishment; but, as the one who had been taken away was disliked, all were noisy in praise of the wonderful man who, at the distance of twenty miles from a shark, had not prevented it from getting a dinner.

Our business was followed until the 1st of April, the end of the season, without further loss of life, and with great success in procuring oysters. To all there had been some excitement, much amusement, and very good pay, yet none seemed to regret that the season was over.

The result of the speculation of the merchant who had employed us I never learned; for, before it was known in Colombo, I had sailed from that part of the world, delighted with the hope that I might never see it again.

SPIDERS.

"SPIDERS! What a subject for an article! Let us skip it, and get on to the next!" exclaims some one after reading the heading. But be in no hurry, my reader! Try to read this article. The subject is striking. In all creation there exists not a more remarkable set of beings than spiders. I will try to be brief in their story.

Let me venture to alter a word in the song of the Second Fairy, in the "Midsummer Night's Dream," and follow me, as the said Fairy calls,

"Weaving spiders! come ye here: Come, ye long-legged spinners, come!" Shakespeare, in these two lines, has touched with his master eye a leading peculiarity of the race. Spiders are weavers. Who has not wondered at their webs?

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Eyes and mouth of Chelicera, greatly magnified.
Fig. 3. Spinnerets, greatly magnified.

autumn morning, the many pretty fungi springing
up all around attract your notice.
The whin and
broom bushes are a mere mass of close webs. The
sun is shining on these. At a distance they are
seemingly gray and dull. You go near to examine
them more closely, and to make acquaintance with
their makers and tenants, and perhaps also to see
what prey their webs contain.

As you look on them, the webs shine with the lustre of mother-of-pearl, or opal. If an entomologist, you might fancy that the colors somewhat resemble the lovely hues that may be seen on the backs of some eastern beetles, found by Mr. Wallace. Naturalists like to be particular; and this last resemblance, at the time, occurred to me as being exact. The sheen of these webs, on the autumn morning of 1865 when I viewed them, exactly resembled at a short distance that on the back of a species of Weevil, of the genus Eupholus, brought A glance at any of our cuts will show that spiders from Celebes or some other Eastern island. As you have a body very different from that of insects, approached more closely, the twinkling iridescence properly so called. They have became more glorious. The rainbow hues glittered their head and breast welded, and glowed. Seldom had I seen anything more as it were, into one piece,* delicately beautiful; although the general impreswhile the body is in another sion was such as I had often witnessed in similar piece, or division. To the circumstances. This iridescence, however, did not first piece is attached that entirely arise from the reflection of the sun on the formidable apparatus, their dewy drops. I observed that the threads, on webs mouth (Fig. 2); on its upper that appeared quite dry, glittered as my eye closely surface are generally six or approached them. eight eyes; the latter number prevailing, although one genus is said to have only two eyes. To the under side are attached eight legs. The breathing apparatus of spiders, and indeed their general structure, from their palpi to their spinnerets, would take many papers to describe. Their very curious legs, with their combs, spines, and brushes, would alone furnish matter for columns. If the reader examine the cut (Fig. 3), he will These structures must only be alluded to incidentally find that each thread of a spider's web is formed by in this paper. The figures will show parts of these the combination of many threads from their spinin sufficient detail to point out the curious arrange- nerets, so that each thread has lines throughout its ment of eyes, claws, and spinnerets, at least in two length, which can cause the light of the sun, reflectof the genera. But let us glance at the webs of spi-ed to the eye, to show the prismatic colors. But ders for an instant. whether this be the explanation or not, I had never Come with me to that well-known point in Strath-seen a more fairy-like vision. William Blake or earn, called Whitehill, on an autumn morning. The sun is breaking through the mist which conceals the lovely prospect all around. The view of the country, from the Ochils to the Grampians, from "fair"

Fig. 1. Female Diadem

Spider.

* Naturalists call it cephalo-thorax.

Sir David Brewster has described this, and gives Sir John Herschel's explanation of it. "These colors," says he, "may arise either from the cause that produces color in a single scratch or fissure, or the interference of light reflected from its opposite edges, or from the thread itself, as spun by the animal, consisting of several agglutinated together, and thus presenting, not a cylindrical, but a furrowed surface."

Noel Paton could have peopled it with fairies. The glittering webs would have become the magic carpet of the "little people" whom a gifted fancy might have conjured up.

• Encyclopædia Britannica, 8th ed., xvi. p. 622 (Optics).

Every Saturday,
March 17, 186.]

SPIDERS.

I was on my way to examine for a second time the curious library of Lord Maderty at Innerpeffray, where are many books that belonged to the great Marquis of Montrose. I walked on, leaving the webs to entrap the flies, and the spiders to pounce on them from their secret recesses, while those gifted with fancy, like Shakespeare, might see or imagine what they chose. Any spider's web is well worth Whoever cares to look at them examination. will soon find that there are many different kinds of these very curiously fabricated net-like or woven webs. Some are close and dense; some loose and irregular: a perfect maze of lines. Many are geometric and concentrical. All are wonderfully and most skilfully constructed. Some have long tubes connected with them; others are only tubes. Several of the foreign kinds, as we shall see, have regular trap-doors.

eggs.

The habits of spiders are as various as their forms. Some spiders are essentially wanderers, regular vagabonds indeed! Naturalists in their books even call the Wolf spiders Vagabondæ. These Wolf spiders in summer and autumn may be seen wandering over fields or heaths, generally carrying their bag of eggs with them. The specimens you meet with are chiefly females. They are most careful of their These eggs are enveloped precious charge of in a cocoon, which is attached to the spinners by means of short threads of silk; on a summer or autumn day, one when walking can scarcely fail to see on a heath or in a garden, a specimen of some species of Wolf spider carrying this precious burden. If my memory does not deceive me, Pollok, the author of "The Course of Time," has referred to it in his delightful story of the persecutions, "Helen of the Glen." He had often seen a spider of this kind (Lycosa) on the hills and heaths of Renfrewshire and Ayrshire, and he introduces it as a characteristic object of the scene.

A

Many of the Crab spiders have such an arrangement of the legs that they can move backwards, forwards, or to the sides, with equal readiness. slight search under stones or round their edges, such stones, especially, as are slightly imbedded in the ground or among grass, — will be sure to reward you with one or more species of this genus. In the valley above lovely Dunira in Perthshire I found a pretty species of the group (Thomisus), and witnessed its peculiar motions with renewed pleasure.

But, see! what little black spider is this on a sunny wall! How prettily spotted and banded he is with white! He stops, then goes on again, and stops, as if with these clear eyes of his he saw some ogre ready to arrest him. No doubt he has seen you, and tries to make you believe that he is only a black dot of a lichen on the wall. Do not look at him too closely, and you will soon see him, as Mr. Black wall describes him, "moving with great circumspection, and occasionally elevating his front half or 'cephalo-thorax,' by straightening the anterior legs, for the purpose of extending his sphere of

vision.

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Fig. 4. Claws at the end of foreleg of Epeira Aurelia. Fig. 5. Claws at the end of foreleg of Philodromus Clerckii. always before we leap. We have not, like the spider, a cord to attach us to our places. Figs. 6 and 7 exhibit the form of a species of Salticus, and the peculiar arrangement of the eyes.

It would take a long treatise to enter into details of the manners of wandering spiders, or to describe the Vaulters, the Jumpers, the Crawlers, and the Pouncers. There are many varieties of them. Reference must be shortly made to a sedentary race, who spread a net for the wings and feet of their enemies.

6

7

titus, magnified.

Fig. 6. Salticus quinquepar-
Fig. 7. Eyes of above.

These spiders are the commonest of our garden spiders, the spider which constructs the geometric web. These "symmetrical snares," as our great spider lover, Mr. Blackwall, calls them, are described distinctly by him in words which sound somewhat "Johnsonían," but for which it would be difficult to substitute anything more short, simple, or clear. "They consist," he writes, " of an elastic spiral line thickly studded with minute globules of liquid gum, whose circumvolutions, falling within the same plane, are crossed by radii converging towards a common centre, which is immediately surrounded by several circumvolutions of a short spiral line devoid of viscid globules, forming a station from which the toils may be superintended by their owner without the inconvenience of being entangled in them. Examine the strong movable spire near the end of the last joint of each hind leg in this spider, By the contraction of and you will find that they are of great use in the economy of the creature." the flexor muscles," I again quote Mr. Blackwall, they are drawn towards the foot, and are thus " brought into direct opposition to the claws, by which means the animals are enabled to hold with a firm grasp such lines as they have occasion to draw from the spinners with the feet of the hind legs, and such also as they design to attach themselves to."

He runs with ease on the most perpendicular surface, for he has an apparatus below his toes by which he can take firm hold (Fig. 4). Look how he jumps on his prey, some little fly or other insect! He drew a line of silk from the spinners while in the very act of springing, and from the very point whence he vaulted. So that our friend, Salticus scenicus, has well earned his name Salticus, the leaper. If he has lost the object he jumped at, he has not lost his hold of the ground. It would be well for us to look and 1864, p. 323.

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See his noble contribution to British Zoology, The Spiders of Great Britain and Ireland, published by the Ray Society in 1861

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