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Her abode is a kind of diving bell, which, strange to say she constructs below water, and then fills with vital air. This miniature bell is composed of silken threads, and is attached

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to the stems and leaves of aquatic plants by means of numerous threads, which serve to retain it in position, just like a balloon is held back till the moment arrives for its voyage.

Having spun the silken envelope which is to form her future home, and varnished it over to make it water-tight, the little creature proceeds to fill it with air. For this purpose the spider comes to the surface of the pool, takes a bubble of air under her abdomen, in some way not understood, and plunging to the bottom, tranfers it to her submerged abode; and she repeats these voyages till the bell is completely filled with air. The spider is now in possession of a little aërialo edifice—I had almost said a fairy palace -affording her a commodious and dry retreat in the very midst of the water. Here she reposes, unmoved by the storms that agitate the surface of the pool, and devours her prey at ease and in safety. Here she passes the winter and rears her young; and when pressed by hunger, the bell serves as a lair from which she makes a sudden sally upon her prey as it passes by.

Another of these robbers, called the Trap-door Spider, burrows in the ground, and makes there a nest for itself and its family. Its habitation consists of a cylindrical1 hole, from a few inches to a foot in length, lined throughout with silken threads from its own body. But the most wonderful part of the structure is the trap-door, which turns upon a well-made hinge, and closes the entrance to the dwelling. This door, or lid, is composed alternately of layers of silk and earth. The hinge is of silk, and so well constructed that the door can be opened and shut with the greatest ease. The door is so well fitted to the edge of the nest that, when closed, the spider's dwelling is like a well-corked bottle.

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This door is intended by the spider for his own private He therefore takes care to conceal the lid by mosses and other plants that grow round about. When the spider wishes to sally forth, he cautiously lifts the lid, which shuts behind him by its own weight. On returning home with his booty, he lifts the lid, and in a moment more spreads a table for his family at the bottom of his den. Should the robber be attacked in his den, he rushes at the first sign of alarm to

secure the door, by laying hold of its liniug with one half of his claws, while with the other half he clings to the lining of the nest.

It may seem strange that creatures of this kind, which lie in wait for blood, should yet be capable of the greatest affection. There is a spider often found under clods of earth, having a white globular silken bag of eggs, about the size of a pea, attached to her body. She clings to this bag with the greatest fondness; if deprived of it, she makes the most desperate efforts to regain it, and will brave any danger rather than abandon her precious load. If all her efforts to retain it are ineffectual, life itself appears to have lost its charms. But if she recovers the bag, her eagerness in seizing it and running off with her prize proves how great is her joy.

This wonderful attachment was once put to an affecting and decisive test. Bonnet, the naturalist, threw a spider with her bag into the hole of a large ant-lion—a ferocious insect, which conceals itself at the bottom of a conical hole constructed in the sand, for the purpose of catching its prey. The spider endeavoured to escape, but could not prevent the ant-lion from seizing the bag of eggs, which it attempted to pull under the sand. She struggled with all her might, but her antagonist drew away the bag. The spider then instantly caught hold of it with her jaws, and endeavoured, but in vain, to rescue the prize. She followed the treasure on which her heart was fixed to the bottom of her adversary's den, thus risking her life rather than relinquish 10 the object of her maternal hopes.

The attachment of the mother is quite as remarkable when the young spiders are hatched. On coming out of the bag, they attach themselves in clusters upon different parts of her body; and in this situation she carries them about and feeds them, until they are big enough to provide for themselves. While the young spiders thus cover by hundreds the body of the mother, it is a most amusing sight to see them, on the

slightest alarm, leap from her back and run away in every direction.

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A KING'S SOLILOQUY ON SLEEP.

[WILLIAM SHAKSPEARE was born at Stratford-on-Avon, 1564, and died there, 1616. He is generally acknowledged the greatest poet whom England or any other country has ever produced. His poems are mostly in the form of plays, or dramas, in which he shows a marvellous insight into human nature. In the large number of characters he has depicted, there is an endless variety; no two are alike, yet all are true to nature. In his dramas every type of human nature is faithfully drawn and coloured. His greatest plays are Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, and King Lear. Many of his dramas are founded on English history. The fol lowing extract is from Henry IV.]

How many thousand of my poorest subjects
Are at this hour asleep !-Sleep, gentle sleep,
Nature's soft nurse, how have I frighted thee,
That thou no more wilt weigh my eyelids down,
And steep my senses in forgetfulness?
Why rather, sleep, liest thou in smoky cribs,
Upon uneasy pallets' stretching thee,

And hush'd with buzzing night-flies to thy slumber,
Than in the perfumed chambers of the great,
Under the canopies of costly state,

And lull'd with sounds of sweetest melody?

O thou dull god! why liest thou with the vile,
In loathsome beds, and leav'st the kingly couch
A watch-case,3 or a common 'larum bell?
Wilt thou, upon the high and giddy mast,
Seal up the ship-boy's eyes, and rock his brains
In cradle of the rude imperious surge;
And in the visitation of the winds,

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Curling their monstrous heads, and hanging them
With deaf'ning clamours in the slippery clouds,
That, with the hurly, death itself awakes?-
Canst thou, O partial' sleep, give thy repose
To the wet sea-boy in an hour so rude;
And, in the calmest and most stillest night,
With all appliances and means to boot,
Deny it to a king?—Then, happy low, lie down!
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.

'Pallet.-A straw mattress.

2 Canopy.-A covering over the head.

A watch-case, etc.-The king complains that his bed is like a watch-case, because he himself is like a watch counting the hours and minutes throughout the night.

Impericus surge. The fcaming billows tossed on high.

5 Ruffian.-Boisterous.
Hurly.-Excessive noise.
Partial sleep. Favouring
more than another.

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"To boot. To profit; to advantage. With all appliances, etc. - With everything that is calculated to invite sleep, such as a quiet room and a downy bed.

JOHN BUNYAN.

THE author of the "Pilgrim's Progress" was John Bunyan, the son of a poor tinker. He was born at the village of Elstow, close to Bedford, in the year 1628. Though a poor man's son, he was educated at the Bedford Grammar School, which was founded by Sir William Harpur, Lord Mayor of London, in 1556, for the teaching of "grammar and good manners to the children of the poor.

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According to Bunyan's own account of himself, in his boyhood he had but few equals "for cursing, swearing, lying, and blaspheming the holy name of God. Yea, so settled and rooted was I in these things, that they became as a second nature to me." It is probable, however, that he was by no means such a young reprobate as he has represented himself. When in later years he reflected on his mis-spent time in years gone by, it is almost certain that his fervid imagination1 painted the pictures of his early life much blacker than the reality.

Those horrible internal conflicts which Bunyan has described prove, not that he was a worse man than his

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