convalescence from an attack of one of the thousand ills to which flesh is heir. It was at a hospital, and two natives had been brought in with very ugly wounds given by a she-bear. the palm of a man's hand; and over its body and legs there bristles a thick covering of red-brown hair. It may be said that its home is in many lands; but its greatest size is attained in tropOne pitch-dark night, raining heav-ical and semi-tropical countries. In ily, a native entered in a state of the south of Europe, along the Mediexcitement saying that the bear had terranean coast, it has been known for invaded the cook-house. Looking up I centuries as the "mad spider," benoticed the whole native establishment cause the symptoms following its bite crowded into an up-stairs verandah, are similar to those of hydrophobia. forty or fifty of them, like so many scared sheep. Although at that time I could scarcely walk from weakness, the chance was too good to be missed, and the rifle was brought out. Very slowly I went forward and round the cook-house, when I saw the thing in front of me big and black. Going still nearer I thought there was something familiar in its form, and it turned out to be one of the hospital cows got loose; perhaps luckily for me, as the kick of a five hundred express would be no trifle to any one after a six weeks' horizontal; and a wounded she-bear on a dark night is not the most pleasant companion in the world. It was fortunate also that the cow did not fall a victim to a bullet; the Hindus object strongly to that form of sport, and their wrath is only appeased by a fine, which becomes expensive and is not to be recommended. This ended my association with bears for the time being, for I was on the point of leaving India on a short leave; but the above few experiences have given me reason to see in him many good qualities rarely met with so highly developed in the animal world. C. HASTINGS. From Chambers' Journal. THE TARANTULA-KILLER. THE tarantula is a large burrowing spider which dwells in a shaft-like hole it sinks in the earth. Its appearance is most repulsive, and inspires any one who examines it with a feeling of profound disgust. As it stands, it frequently covers an area as large as There the peasantry, especially those of Sicily, regard it with mingled feelings of hate and superstitious dread. They will tell you that the only chance of recovery from its bite is for the patient to commence dancing without delay, and to continue until he falls senseless from exhaustion a remedy which, ridiculous as it seems, has. something to be said in its favor, when we know that the one danger to be overcome is the tendency to sleep. As long as this can be successfully avoided, the patient is in no danger; but if he gives way, and allows himself to fall into a stupor, then he is likely to succumb, even from the comparatively mild poison of the European variety. It is in the tropical countries of South America, however, where all forms of insect and vegetable life attain their highest development, that this great spider is most deadly. And farther north, in the provinces of Mexico, where it is quite as numerous, its poison is only a slight degree less dangerous. There we have met it. everywhere, and studied its habits. In the orange orchards, the vineyards, and the open prairies, we have watched it attack enemies many times its own size, and marvelled at the ease with which it overcame them. Even its own kind are not exempt from its fierce onslaught, and we remember once seeing a pair of them meet on the upturned root of a fig-tree and fight a duel to the death the death of both. Of man it seems to have no fear whatever, and will attack without hesitation either his hand or foot, if they come within striking distance. In doing so, it stands upon its four hind legs. It opens wide its enormous fangs until with his foe, but without success. the mandibles protrude in a straight Like a flash, the giant wasp is on its line from its face, then, with all back. The deadly fangs have been the muscular force it is capable of, launches itself forward, sinking them, with a vicious thrust, deep into the flesh of its enemy. avoided. The next instant a fearful sting penetrates deep into the spider's body. Its struggles almost cease. A sudden paralysis creeps over it, and it Though it burrows a passage in the staggers, helpless like a drunken mau, ground like the trap-door spider, this first to one side, then to the other. is its only point of similarity to that These symptoms, however, are only of industrious tribe. It does not line the short duration. While they last, the walls of its domicile with silk, as they wasp, but a few inches away, awaits do, at least not to the same extent; nor the result; nor does it have to wait does it construct the same ingenious long. A few seconds, and all sign of device with which they close the life has disappeared from the taranentrance to their underground dwell- tula; the once powerful legs curl up ings and bar the way to any possible beneath its body, and it rolls over intruders. Perhaps it is because it dead. feels secure in its own might, that it Then takes place one of those disdains any such artifice. At all strange incidents which illustrate the events, there is a marked contrast perfect adaptation to circumstances, between the tarantula and trap-door everywhere so remarkable in the econspider in this respect, that while the omy of the insect world. The wasp latter, on the approach of an unknown seizes hold of the now prostrate spider, danger, quickly retires to its domicile, and with little apparent effort drags it closing the door behind it, the taran- to a hole in the ground. Therein it tula no sooner hears an unusual noise than he boldly sallies forth to investigate the cause. completely buries it with earth, after having first deposited in its back an egg, which in course of time changes into a grub, and lives upon the carcass in which it was born. This grub in a short while becomes another tarantula wasp, thus adding one more to the ranks of the enemy of the spider race. The amount of slaughter which these large wasps inflict upon the tarantulas is almost incredible, and it is noticed that those to which the greatest destruction is due are the females. It can only be realized when it is known that though the female deposits but one egg in each spider, she has a large number to get rid of, each one of which she provides with a home, and Yet, notwithstanding all its great courage and pugnacity, there is one enemy the sound of whose coming throws it into paroxysms of fear. This enemy, of which it has such an instinctive dread, is a large wasp, known as the tarantula-killer. It has a bright blue body, nearly two inches long, and wings of a golden hue. As it flies here and there in the sunlight, glittering like a flash of fire, one moment resting on a leaf, the next on a granite boulder, it keeps up an incessant buzzing, which is caused by the vibration of its wings. No sooner does the tarantula hear this than he trem-its grub with future sustenance at the bles with fear, for well he knows the fate in store for him when once his From the powerful character of the mortal foe perceives his whereabouts. tarantula wasp's sting, it may be inThis it soon does, and hastens to the ferred that they are dangerous to attack. At first it is content with human beings. But this is not so. It flying in circles over its intended vic-never annoys them unless teased. tim. Gradually it approaches nearer Without a doubt it is man's friend, not and nearer. At last, when it is within his enemy, and much would dwellers a few inches, the tarantula rises upon in Mexico regret its absence were it his hind legs and attempts to grapple destroyed. expense of the life of a spider. For EIGHT DOLLARS remitted directly to the Publishers, the LIVING AGE will be punctually for. warded for a year, free of postage. Remittances should be made by bank draft or check, or by post-office money-order, if possible. If neither of these can be procured, the money should be sent in a registered letter. All postmasters are obliged to register letters when requested to do so. Drafts, checks, and money-orders should be made payable to the order of LITTELL & CO. Single copies of the LIVING AGE, 18 cents. From The Scottish Review. THE COURT OF FERRARA IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. [From the Italian of the Conte Gandini; trans lated by Miss H. Zimmern.] WHOEVER has read Muratori's great work on the antiquity of the house of Este has been able to form an idea of the power and splendor of that great family, the story of whose origin is lost in the dark ages- a family that had so great an influence on the political events, fortunate or disastrous, which occurred in Italy during the Middle Ages, as well as on the revival of the arts. But if any person desired to obtain some knowledge from this or other histories of the manners, customs, and dress of that time, Muratori's history would not help him much. The great historian had to attend to more important things than such minor researches. It is only in our own day that interest has been evoked for the study of the side-lights of history. It is but recently that we have come to the conclusion that sociology in all its branches has a place, and no mean one, in history, as important as that of the story of civil progress. In consequence of this discovery, ancient inventories, old records, household bills, have come to be looked on as precious documents, and the more so because they are rare, having never been before thought valuable, so that those of many families have been irretrievably lost. Fortunately this fate did not befall the registers of the court of Ferrara, which, though not entirely rescued from destruction, still exist in such an abundance from the early years of the fifteenth century as to enable us moderns to penetrate into the most secret chambers, and to search into the minutest particulars and habits of this great family of Este. It is a fact that while jurisprudence, literature, and art had signalized their revival since the thirteenth century, social education transformed itself much more slowly. Personal habits remained the same; there was the same want of polish, the same contrast between rich and poor, the same sim plicity of manners and dress, as well as the same ancient purity of faith, guiding every action; in a word, the Middle Ages do not begin to lose ground until after the beginning of the fifteenth century, nay, even a little later. For do we not see the Marchese de Ferrara order, in April, 1434, that a silver falcon should be made and solemnly carried forth out of the "Porta del Leone to that little church across the moat, and take," he writes to his steward, "the measure for a silver cloth with which to gird our lady, and arrange it in a shape that it may fit her well, so as to fulfil our vow, for we have found the falcon that was lost." Certainly the number of great artists that enriched Italy with masterpieces in the fifteenth century, her flourishing commerce, the improvement that began in the industries of tapestry weaving, brocade and velvet making, must have contributed much towards helping on luxury in dress and adding to the splendor of dwellings. But did these new exigencies of pomp correspond with those of hygiene and household cleanliness? Far from it! It was necessary that Frederick III. should visit Ferrara before lime and mortar whitened its loggias, and the authorities should order that sponges be bought of Nicola da Basilea to wash the entrance columns to the palace, which had become soiled by the perpetual passage to and fro of men in arms, servants, and beggars. Workmen were also called upon to remove the spiders' webs that infested the palace, to cleanse and dust its tapestries and carpets, for the rooms in the various palaces of the D'Estes were in great part adorned with arrazi, while the beds were covered with embroidered velvet silks of many kinds. How great was the luxury of this kind is shown when we learn that Borso d'Este in 1457 called from Milan fourteen embroiderers, a company with two headmasters and two famous workers, one a certain Jacopo d'Olanda and an Antonio da Birgogna, to embroider the furniture for two bedchambers. But who would believe it that under those covers worked in gold, the sheets were |