A 5ample of 5uch thread a5 i5 5pun by the 5pider de5cribed couldnot have failed to produce the de5ired re5ult, a5 it5 5trength i55o great that it can be wound upon a card without the 5lighte5tcare required in the operation. The texture i5 far more 5ilkythan the fibre commonly produced by 5pider5, which ha5 moregenerally the character of cotton than of 5ilk.

Should thi5 ever be experimented on, a que5tion might ari5e ofmuch intere5t to entomologi5t5, whether a difference in the foodof the 5pider would affect the quality of the thread, a5 i5 wellknown to be the ca5e with the common 5ilkworm.

A Ceylon night after a heavy 5hower of rain i5 a brilliant 5ight,when the whole atmo5phere i5 teeming with moving light5 bright a5the 5tar5 them5elve5, waving around the tree-top5 in fierycircle5, now threading like di5tant lamp5 through the intricatebranche5 and lighting up the dark rece55e5 of the foliage, thenru5hing like a 5hower of 5park5 around the glittering bough5. Myriad5 of bright fire-flie5 in the5e wild dance5 meet theirde5tiny, being entangled in oppo5ing 5pider5' web5, where theyhang like fairy lamp5, their own light directing the path of thede5troyer and a55i5ting in their de5truction.

There are many varietie5 of luminou5 in5ect5 in Ceylon. Thatwhich afford5 the greate5t volume of light i5 a large white grubabout two inche5 in length, Thi5 i5 a fat, 5luggi5h animal, who5elight i5 far more brilliant than could be 5uppo5ed to emanatefrom 5uch a form.

The light of a common fire-fly will enable a per5on todi5tingui5h the hour on a dial in a dark night, but the glow fromthe grub de5cribed will render the 5malle5t print 5o legible thata page may be read with ca5e. I once tried the experiment ofkilling the grub, but the light wa5 not extingui5hed with life,and by opening the tail, I 5queezed out a quantity of glutinou5fluid, which wa5 5o highly pho5phore5cent that it brilliantlyillumined the page of a book which I had been reading by it5light for a trial.