sion, or of the escape of gas, or a thousand accidents which have baffled human wisdom and science in ærial voyages. We have spoken above of the skill and ingenuity of spiders in building their cocoons; but their labors are not less remarkable in the construction of their various abodes. The mygale, and the atypus seemingly conscious of their horrible appearance, not only shun the light of day, but industriously dig caverns in the earth, sometimes two feet in depth. These tubular dwellings are lined with silk to prevent the caving of the soil, and provided with a door, which perfectly fits the aperture, and which has a hinge, a real scientifically constructed hinge. This, by its own weight, is sufficient in a moment to hide the opening. The spider, however, can close it inside so effectually, that it requires a considerable effort to force it open. The upper surface of this door is lined with a coat of the very soil which surrounds the aperture, so that when closed, it is impossible to discover its existence. Frequently has the observer, after succeeding in finding such an abode, made a mark or planted a stick to indicate its situation; and, after all, failed a second time to discover the place, without raking up the soil. We are surrounded every where with wonders, not revealed to our senses, until we laboriously pierce through the veil placed by nature to hide her designs. The writer of this article, informed of the existence of such skiltul spiders, had for years, in vain, looked for the door of a mygale, often taking long walks for this purpose, till an accident revealed to him the fact that many such spiders, with their nests, could be found a few inches from his own door steps.

Thus far, we have found spiders, exercising the various professions of the weaver, the engineer, the locksmith, the miner; but what will you say when we introduce to you a practised mariner, fisherman and diver, with a bell constructed on the most scientific principles? The industrious argyroneta, though not yet discovered on our American shores, is frequent in the stagnant waters of the old continent. She not only dwells under water, but there spreads her nets, builds her dwelling, and even there deposits the cocoon which contains all her hopes and her joys. She selects an abode in a pond, among aquatic plants, and first builds her diving bell in the real shape of an inverted cup which is firmly attached to the stems of such plants as al

ways grow under water. This bell is woven with such care as to be able to retain the air, which she gradually introduces under it in the progression of her sub-marine palace. This is quickly accomplished, by frequently rising to the surface, from which, each time, two bubbles of air are found to adhere to her body, like two costly pearls, which she adds to her store, and which she has the art to detach permanently from her sides. Our fond fancy loves to make us dream of Naiads, of aquatic fairies, and of Undines of our own imagination; and now, save the fair form of a nymph, the argyroneta has realized our fanciful fictions. The crystal wave her dwelling; silken draperies and damask canopy her pavilion; now bathing in ether, and basking on a smoother mirror than ever was invented by man; now wrapped in the witching solitude of her diamond abode, secure from the intrusion of mortal fiend. The blue sky, the green wave, the watery grove are her realms. What more could fair fancy wish?

If the question be asked, of what use are spiders, we answer; in the economy of nature they perform an important function, freeing the air from myriads of insects, which, without them, would annoy, perhaps endanger man. But the labors of spiders are capable of becoming highly beneficial to our race. The web of the tegenaria, when applied to a cut, has the power of arresting the flow of the blood. It has been also used by physicians internally, as a powerful narcotic. The threads which compose the cocoons of several species, are possessed of extreme pliancy and strength, and have actually been reeled and woven into gloves and stockings. But the ferocious habits of these industrious beings is a serious obstacle to their being extensively used in this way. Whenever several have been collected together with that object, they have invariably waged with each other a war of extermination; and the only alternative, for the manufacturer, would be to supply each spider with its own apartment.

Thus far we have viewed this race as a terror to other beings. Is it invincible? Their physical construction would speak the reverse. Their feeble, slender limbs are torn from their bodies, by the slightest shock. Their body is so soft and so unprotected externally, that a mere scratch of the skin may allow their life blood, or at least the fluid on which their life depends, to exude in profusion, and at once prostrate and paralyse them. Indeed, such is their

physical debility, that it seems almost miraculous, that they could ever conquer or even confront the fierce warlike wasp, with its impenetrable armor and panoply of steel. But it is only on their toils and nets, that they depend for victory. Deprive them of their web, and they must passively submit to the overwhelming strength of their numerous enemies. Among these is a very curious insect called the spher, by naturalists, and known in the south, by the name of dirtdauber. These curious masons build in the dark corners, even of our apartments, regular edifices of moistened clay, which soon hardens into very strong mortar. These edifices are formed in the shape of needle cases, placed side by side, sometimes in considerable number, making large concretions, which disfigure the chambers, that are not daily visited by the broom of the industrious housekeeper. In each of these tubes, are placed two or three eggs, the offspring of the sphex. These soon hatch out, and must be fed. They can eat nothing save soft, tender, delicate spiders. And how are these young epicures to be supplied with fresh meat? All this has been provided for, even before their birth, by their provident mother. Before sealing the opening of the nursery, she has there accumulated, twenty, thirty and sometimes even forty, delicious little spiders, for the meals of her yet unborn progeny. And now mark the admirable provision made by nature for the sustenance of all beings! See, as it were, the finger of creative wisdom, showing clearly the existence of causes preceeding ef fects! Had the sphex inclosed in her tube dead spiders, they would have presently withered and contracted to dry mummies, unfit, as food, for the soft little white worm just issuing from its egg. No. They are not dead, nor likely to die for many weeks. But they have been paralyzed, or nearly so, by the sting of the sphex, which contains just venom enough to accomplish that object. Thus, the poor helpless prisoners are kept fresh and tender, so that the young vampire may, as it grows, find the daily meals, which will at last increase its size sufficiently, to fill its then solitary cell. Had the spiders been wounded by the sting of the malignant wasp, for instance, no such provision could have been made, for the support of the young spher. When such facts are unfolded, it seems that men must be strange ly blinded, who refuse to acknowledge the existence of a pre-existing, universal, irresistible wisdom. N. M. H.

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VOL. X.-NO. 20.

ART. III.- EMANUEL SWEDENBORG.*

Life of Emanuel Swedenborg, with some account of his Writings. By NATHANIEL HOBART. Second Edition, enlarged. Boston: T. H. Carter and Company, and Otis Clapp. MDCCCXLV.

TIME is beginning to pass a just judgment on the character of that extraordinary man, Emanuel Swedenborg,certainly one of the most gifted geniuses that ever appeared on the face of the earth. Seventy-four years have elapsed since his death. This period has constituted the mere sunrise of his fame-the dawn of a meridian splendor that is yet to bless the nations. By his far-seeing contemporaries he was considered, and was pronounced, and justly too, the greatest man of his country and age, whether regard were had to the herculean powers of mind with which Providence had endowed him, his laborious researches into the mysteries of the universe, his profound knowledge of human nature, acquired in travels as extensive as those of the ancient philosophers, the light which he shed over every known department of science by his fearless investigations and wonderful discoveries, or finally, the exceeding beauty of a life sanctified by the sincerest piety and glowing with the charms of the most enlarged and fascinating philanthropy. No author, since the discovery of the art of printing-nay, none since the invention of letters, has ever written so many books-or so many good ones-books that will survive the wreck of an ephemeral literature and a transient theology, and will exercise a benign and ennobling influence on the successive generations of men, whatever language they may speak, and wherever and whenever they may appear, to take their place and act their part on the great theatre of life.

Who ever thought so profoundly on great and noble themes as Swedenborg? What patriot was ever more just, generous, considerate and active? What merely finite human being was ever so highly favored by the

This article is evidently from the pen of a receiver of the doctrines of Emanuel Swedenborg. It is chiefly biographical in its character, and therefore not objectionable. An increasing interest exists in this quarter to know something more than is known of the character of the Swedish sage, and we trust, therefore, that this narrative will not be unacceptable to our readers. [Ed. S. Q. Rev.

Almighty? Illustrious sage! A true saint! if there ever was a saint, and yet one who never desired to be canonized. An apostle of truth, but one whose message, unfit for the market-place, was never heard in louder tones than those of a deep and solemn conviction-a co-worker together with the Creator in the achievement of the grandest designs of Providence, but who regarded the title of his servant, if justly acquired, the highest glory to which man can aspire. The fame of Bacon and Newton and Locke-of Milton and Shakspeare and Scott, pales and grows dim before the brighter glory that clusters around the name and acts of this renowned individual! They acquired distinction for the splendor of their success in particular departments of inquiry, and in certain spheres of intellectual labor, but it was reserved for the more fortunate and celebrated Swede to master, not one science, but the whole circle of arts and sciences, and to understand and reveal the great connecting links that subsist between mind and matter, time and eternity, man and his Maker, in a far clearer manner than any, the most gifted and inspired of his predecessors.

The world may be challenged in vain to produce, in the history of any single individual, such a combination of gigantic and well balanced powers of mind, with such vast and magnificent attainments of all sorts. If Tully was thought to have bestowed high and immortal praise on the great Plato for saying that he brought down philosophy from the skies to dwell among men amid cool and shady retreats, where, in fact, it has been sullied and profaned by human passions, how much higher, and how much more immortal praise belongs to Swedenborg, who, with the spirit of an angel, has carried philosophy up to the skies, the birthplace and home of the just, where it glitters all over with the beautiful and brilliant rays that emanate from the Sun of Righteousness! Proceeding from the outer and earthly, he has penetrated to the inner and heavenly worlds proper to man, has revealed their mysteries, and promulgated the laws of the great Legislator which govern them. The whole universe, in its general aspects, is the object of his meditations and study, and, not omitting particulars, he finds as profound and beautiful a significance, and sees as speaking a manifestation of the power and love of the great Creator in the pebble on the sea-shore, or the leaf that waves in the breeze, as in a star of the first magnitude that decks the