HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



19E 



that our cultivated root is a native of the South of 

 Europe. The white garden beet {Beta ciclu) is 

 extensively cultivated in Switzerland and Germany; 

 the stout midribs and footstalks, called " chards," 

 are boiled and eaten like asparagus. The root of 

 the garden beet is exceedingly wholesome and 

 nutritious; and Dr. Lyon Play fair has recommended 

 that a good brown bread may be made by rasping 

 down this root with an equal quantity of flour. 

 Good domestic ale has also been made from it 

 {vide Hogg's "Veg. King."). The roots, dried 

 and ground, are sometimes used as " a supplement 

 to coffee." They have also been candied for sweet- 

 meats. The juice of the red beet is sometimes 

 employed as an economical rouge by the young 

 lasses in the Highlands when they wish to look 

 blooming. The use of this root for salad and for 

 garnishing dishes is well known. There are also 

 several varieties now introduced for the purpose of 

 decorative planting in flower-gardens. One kiud 

 from Chili is especially adapted for shrubberies, the 

 foliage presenting a great variety of colour. This 

 plant, it is said by some authors, takes its name 

 Beta from the shape of its seed-vessel resembling 

 the second letter of the Greek alphabet. Wither- 

 ing says that the English name Beet is derived from 

 the Celtic word bett, signifying red. The origin of 

 thename mangel-wurzel, "root of scarcity," by which 

 it was known when first introduced, arose from a 

 mistake of a Frenchman, Abbe de Commerell, who 

 wrote a treatise on this plant, and called it Mangel, 

 German for scarcity, instead of Mangold, red beet. 

 The French called it Racine de Disette, but after- 

 wards Racine d'Abondance, and, from its property of 

 growing with a large portion of its root above 

 ground, it is also known by the name of Bette 

 Rave, Sur terre, &c. 



Hampden G. Glasspoole. 



SPIDERS' WEBS AND SPINNERETS. 



SINCE writing the paper which appeared in 

 the June number of this magazine I have met 

 with Mr. J. Blackwall's work, entitled " Researches 

 in Zoology." In this book are recorded some 

 interesting observations on the habits and economy 

 of spiders. The spinning of an Epeira's web, which 

 process 1 partially described in my last article, is 

 there given in detail, and the fact that there are 

 three kinds of threads in a spider's web is also 

 noted. I mention this, to show that although my 

 description is not unlike that of Mr. Blackwall, 

 it was drawn'up from independent observation and 

 in ignorance of his researches. 



The mode in which a Ciniflo uses its calamistra 

 is also described at some length in Mr. Blackwall's 

 book, and after reading this I no longer doubt that 

 the calamistra are used in the formation of the 



curly threads of the web. I have never yet been 

 fortunate enough to witness the process, for, not- 

 withstanding that I have been keeping several 

 Ciuiflos for some weeks past, I have only once 

 caught one at work, and then immediately on my 

 bringing a candle by which to see her operations 

 she ceased working. 



Mr. Blackwall states that the "fourth threads" 

 of a Ciuiflo's web are "fibrous." By this expres- 

 sion I understand him to mean that they are made 

 of loose fibre like floss-silk. His reasons for this 

 supposition are, that the " film," while being spun, 

 does not catch in the calamistra, nor will it after- 

 wards adhere to a smooth surface, such as the bulb 

 ofa thermometer. Therefore it must be dry, be- 

 cause, if fluid, like the viscid globules of an Epeira's 

 web, it would both catch in the calamistra and 

 adhere to the polished glass. 



I have noticed that a new web is loose in texture, 

 and of a light blue colour, and that it adheres most 

 tenaciously to any insect which may touch it. 

 When old it is hard, close-textured, white, and 

 apparently dry. In this state it will scarcely adhere 

 even to a fly forcibly pressed against it. By ana- 

 logical reasoning, after the manner of Mr. Black- 

 wall, it might be inferred that the film is not of a 

 fibrous, but of a viscid nature, because, in course of 

 time, it thus appears to dry up. But the phenome- 

 non may be explained in another way. Supposing 

 the film to be fibrous, its various fibres may, after 

 a time, become entangled with each other, or as 

 it were "felted" together. This supposition will 

 also account for its change in hue, since the finely- 

 divided fibres, which are only blue and semitranspa- 

 rent because separate, would naturally become white 

 and opaque when condensed into a compacter tissue, 

 for exactly the same reasons that milk diluted with 

 water appears sky-blue colour, because its oil- 

 globules are finely subdivided, while pure milk is 

 nearly white, its oil-globules being much closer 

 together. 



On examining a stained web with a power of 

 about 300 diameters, and using oblique light, I can 

 see what I should call fibres, if I knew beforehand 

 that they were such. I believe that what I see are 

 really fibres, but of course I may be deceived. 1 

 notice that the film as a whole can be torn length- 

 wise, which would naturally happen if it were 

 composed of longitudinal fibres. Again, if viscous, 

 one would imagine that it would be soluble in 

 something or other. But I have tried eight solv- 

 ents, aud sulphuric acid is the only one that will act 

 upon it. Since that acid also dissolves the other 

 threads, this fact does not at all prove that the film 

 is viscous or even gelatinous. 



I confess that I was in error in stating that the 

 fourth pair of Ciuiflo's spinnerets have no papillae, 

 but are merely pierced with holes. With a specimen 

 mounted in the ordinary manner (i.e. squeezed flat) 



K 2 



