Charles Darwin; his life and work / by Charles Frederick Holder.

  • Charles Frederick Holder
Date:
1891
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Charles Darwin; his life and work / by Charles Frederick Holder. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    ested him; their leaps upon their prey reminding him of the tiger in pursuit of its victim. Over every pathway in the forest he found a strong elastic yellow web of a spider, allied to the Epeira clavipes, and note how carefully he examined them! In every web was found a small parasitic form, which lived here undisturbed by its giant ally, feeding upon the minute insects entrapped,—the crumbs from the big spider's table. The young naturalist here ob- served a remarkable instance of defence on the part of a spider. As he approached, the little insect imparted to its web a swinging movement, which increased so rapidly that in a few moments the cunning insect was invisible, or nearly so, from the rapidity of its motions. This spider had a most skilful method of disposing of its victims. The moment a wasp or fly became entangled, the Epeira held it at arm's length, and, in some miraculous way, whirled it over and over, winding it up in a broad band of threads, taken from its spinners, so that in a few moments the captive appeared to be encased in a cocoon, and then helpless was killed by the deadly jaws of the monster. To show the virulence of the poison, Darwin found that half a minute was sufificient to kill a large wasp. On July 5, 1832, the Beagle left Rio, sailing for the Plata. In the mouth of the latter he studied the porpoise, watching its movements across the bow as the vessel rushed along at full speed. Seals and penguins were present in great numbers, and were so demonstrative at night that the officer of