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HARD WICKE 'S SCIENCE - G OSS I P. 



astonished at the promptitude of Mr. Spider's observa- 

 tion : he was at once militant, and sallied forth, and 

 gradually one by one appeared to unhook the web 

 wherever it had hold of the upper part of the leaf, so 

 that being thus loosed the leaf rolled over until again 

 suspended at a lower level (i.e. just the breadth of the 

 curl of the leaf) by the film which had fastened to the 

 lower part originally, and which, of course, now 

 became the top part. Quicker than the time taken 

 to read this, the spider seemed in like manner to 

 unfasten the newly-placed upper part, and of course 

 the leaf rolled over again, and this method of 

 proceeding was continued until at last the leaf was 

 rolled beyond the limits of the web. Thus freed from 

 such an intrusion, the spider seemed to squat down 

 again comfortably enough in the centre. Surely, 

 thought I, another attempt will not be cruel, and so I 

 placed an angular bit of a leaf (about half an inch 

 square) in the upper part of the web. Immediately my 

 friend started forthagain. Takingstock of theinvading 

 leaf, he seemed to decide that a new method of attack 

 was necessary in this case, and so he speedily 

 unbuckled each entangled corner of the leaf, and 

 grasping the latter with the full expanse of all his 

 limbs, he seemed to take it out of the mesh, and by 

 a herculean feat to expel and throw it away outwardly 

 from all contiguity with the web, so that it at once 

 fell to the ground. After this, he returned to the 

 domestic hearth in the centre. I was singularly 

 struck by the apparent method pursued in face of 

 these difficulties, and did not again impose upon his 

 good nature for any further edification. On another 

 occasion, a very large spider had spun a web across 

 the frontage of some Virginian creeper leaves. I had 

 no experimental intention in disturbing the "animal," 

 and so, I forget whether I destroyed the web or 

 merely commenced by teasing the spider. Which- 

 ever it was I however remember that he presently 

 beat a quick retreat beneath some of the curved 

 leaves, and from one place of refuge to another I 

 continued to fidget him. At last — perhaps he was 

 exhausted — he seemed to say, " I shall go no further," 

 and the little twig (about a foot long) in my hand 

 with which I had teased him, failed to dislodge him 

 from his chosen refuge. He kicked out in reprisal 

 to my annoying him, and seemed to wince, so I 

 imagined, with great indignation. While this was 

 going on, I happened to pull my twig of branch 

 nearer to myself, and observed that the spider had 

 attached a line to the end of it, and that it was con- 

 tinuous and unbroken. It immediately struck me to 

 test the length to which, in the spider's wrath, I 

 might extend the film. Steadily and carefully I 

 carried my twig across a distance of about 9 or 10 

 paces of ground (about 22 feet) and fixed the free end 

 of the twig branch into the trunk of an adjacent tree. 

 I had therefore stretched a fine filamentous thread 

 across a distance I never expected, and although it 

 was so exceedingly fine and attenuated that it was only 

 by difficulty that I could trace its course, yet it was 

 apparently as continuous and intact as a telegraph 

 wire. To prove this, I picked up some blades of 

 grass, and by bending them into an angle I was 

 enabled to hang them ztpon the spider line. At 

 varying distances I placed a blade here and then a 

 blade there — only, by-the-by, in single blades, for I 

 was afraid of overtaxing the " line." If I remember 

 aright, I had hung up five of these blades ; but 

 the weight of the sixth proved to lie the straw 

 which broke the camel's back — my line broke. This 

 seemed an extraordinary case, for the spider seemed to 

 throw out an unlimited length of " wire,'' and seeing I 

 was enabled to put thereon five or six blades of grass — 

 each blade being probably of greater weight than 



the whole length of film — he might perhaps have 

 allowed me to "runout" 30 feet or more of his 

 gossamer thread had I carried my twig that length 

 in the first place. My last observation of spider 

 instinct has been in the construction of the web itself, 

 but I fear to trespass further on your space just now, 

 however interesting and wonderful these phenomena 

 of nature and life may be. — J. F. S. 



Engineering Skill of a Spider.— The follow- 

 ing specimen of the engineering skill possessed by a 

 spider may possibly interest your readers. It was 

 discovered in an office in this town (Omagh), and was 

 kindly shown to me by a gentleman connected with 

 the concern. A spider, desirous of making a web, 

 being either hard-up or taking a thoughtful view of 

 matters, appropriated a string for an outside border, 

 and that in a very curious manner. The string was 

 a stout one, and hung perpendicularly from a beam. 

 Moreover, it had a copper-wire hook attached to its 

 end. The spider must have crept clown the string, 

 and fixed the end of one of its own lines to the eye 

 of the copper hook, then ascended the string, carrying 

 its own line with it, walked along the beam as far as 

 nine inches, and then fixed the other end of its line. 

 It must then have pulled bit by bit at the line, till it 

 had drawn up the copper hook, and made the string 

 describe a curve; and considering the size of the 

 string and the size of the spider, it must have been a 

 rather arduous task, requiring plenty of patience and 

 perseverance. It then, by a few more lines cleverly 

 placed, managed to relieve the strain on the main 

 line, and complete the foundation. The web was 

 never completed, but was left in its present unfinished 

 condition. — Isaac Crawford. 



Cat and Rabbit. — When living in Essex a few 

 years back I made the acquaintance of a splendid 

 cat, of a glossy black from the tips of his whiskers to 

 the end of his tail. In temper and disposition he 

 differed from most pussies, for he was a morose old 

 fellow, and seemed to have very little affection for 

 anything but cat's-meat. The cry of "meat " seemed 

 to electrify him, but after his " haporth " had been 

 duly disposed of he would retire within himself, and 

 take no further heed of temporal things. A more 

 unsociable old Turk could not well be imagined. 

 And yet — would you believe it?— this reserved old 

 character had a soul (or its equivalent) tucked away 

 somewhere under that black exterior, and this is what 

 brought it out. Another member was added to the 

 family in the shape of a glossy black and white rabbit, 

 which in a short time was leading a very ' ' free and 

 easy" life on the premises. Well, between this 

 pretty creature and the morose old "blacky" an 

 acquaintance sprang up which by degrees ripened 

 into a downright fancy for each other's society. Then 

 they took to romping and playing together, and 

 after a time the two oddly-matched animals might 

 be seen lying on the hearthrug together, pussy's sable 

 paws lovingly clasped round bunny's snowy neck. — 

 W. H. Warner. 



A Mysterious Gift. — I beg to draw P. A. 

 Allan's attention to the following paragraph, relating 

 to the wonderful power of sight possessed by M. 

 Fillifay. It is taken from awork entitled "Mauritius 

 or the Isle of France," by the Rev. F. P. Flemyng, 

 M.A., F.R.G.S. "It was from this station (viz. the 

 long Mountain) that the notable M. Fillifay, some 

 years ago, used to astonish the colonists, and indeed 

 the world, by the singular power of sight which he 

 possessed. His time for observation was usually at 

 dawn, and by directing his vision to the clear unclou- 

 ded sky (and not to the horizon), he could behold, 



