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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



This wish was gratified in the summer of 1882. An article drifted 

 through American newspapers which detailed the ensnaring of a 

 living mouse by a Kentucky spider. I was fortunately able to 

 trace the story to its origin in the Lebanon (Ky.) Standard and 

 Times. Correspondence with its intelligent editor, Mr. J. W. Hop- 



Fig. 4. — The Pouch, Web, Tower, and Cocoon of the Medicinal Spider. 



per, brought me entire confirmation of the report from a number 

 of trustworthy sources. I think the incident of sufficient impor- 

 tance to justify a somewhat detailed presentation. The original 

 account, as published by Mr. Hopper, is as follows : 



" A very curious and interesting spectacle was to be seen 

 Monday afternoon in the office of Mr. P. C. Cleaver's livery-stable 

 in this city. Against the wall of the room stands a tolerably tall 

 desk, and under this a small spider, not larger than a common 

 pea, had constructed an extensive web reaching to the floor (Fig. 

 5). About half past eleven o'clock Monday forenoon, it was 

 observed that the spider had ensnared a young mouse by passing 

 filaments of her web around its tail. When first seen, the mouse 

 had its fore-feet on the floor, and could barely touch the floor 

 with its hind-feet. The spider was full of business, running up 

 and down the line and occasionally biting the mouse's tail, mak- 

 ing it struggle desperately. Its efforts to escape were all un- 

 availing, as the slender filaments about its tail were too strong 



