EECEEATIVE SCIEN'CE. 



221 



manufacture into yarn ; whereas, our won- 

 derful little spider produces from certain 

 glands within its body the substance of which 

 the invisible silken yarn is constituted, and 

 forms it into a cord much more rapidly than 

 the eye can follow the process. 



Is not this an admirable example of the 

 superiority and simplicity of Nature's opera- 

 tions, as compared with the industrial pro- 

 cesses of the human race P 



With wonderful rapidity and instinct the 

 spider employs these threads to weave its 

 web, or wanders from place to place, often 

 constructing a perfect net, to entrap its prey 

 (upon accurate geometrical principles*), in 

 less than an hour, and, what is most re- 

 markable of all, performing this task in what 

 to us would be total darkness ! 



There are many other curious and myste- 

 rious circumstances connected with these 

 webs. The garden-spider {E;peira diadema), 

 for instance, covers all the concentric fila- 

 ments of its net, at regular intervals, with 

 glutinous or adhesive globules, presenting 

 tmder the microscope the appearance of pearls 

 strung upon a thread, and destined to facili- 

 tate the capture of its prey. But our restricted 

 space will not allow us to dwell upon these 

 interesting details, and for all that concerns 

 the habits of the spider, as well as its inter- 

 nal physiology, which is as interesting as its 

 external structure, we must refer you to some 

 of the books that have been published on the 

 subject ;t or, if you wish to render yourself 

 useful to science, we recommend you to open 

 the book of JN'ature itself, and there to study 

 the life-history of a creature whose habits 

 have unfortunately prevented it from re- 

 ceiving its due share of the naturalist's 

 attention. 



It is certainly an annoyance to us in our 



* This refers more particularly to the garden- 

 spider {Epeira diadema). 



+ Kirby and Spence's " Entomology," concerning 

 the habits ; Carpenter, or Newport, and Vogt and Trevi- 

 ranns (German) as regards Anatomy, etc. 



houses, and toarns ns of the necessity for 

 cleanliness ; but were it not for the presence of 

 the spider, the flies and other insects with 

 which our dwellings swarm in summer, would 

 be intolerable, and it is therefore a wise pro- 

 vision of Nature to reduce the number of these 

 prolific insects. A little reflection, too, will 

 show you that its life-history and habits pre- 

 sent only a repetition of those of most other 

 animals of prey, of which many, although 

 possessing no such features of interest as 

 our little spinner, are regarded with much 

 less horror and repugnance. 



Nay, if we are to believe what one of our 

 poets tells us, the little arachnidan is not 

 half so cruel and predatory as man himself. 

 He says :— 



" Ingenious insect, but of ruthless mould. 

 Whose savage craft as nature taught, designs 

 A mazy web of death — the filmy lines 

 That form thy circling labyrinth, enfold 

 Each thoughtless fly that wanders near thy hold, 

 Sad victim of thy guile ; nor aught avail 

 His silken wings, nor coat of glossy mail, 

 Nor varying lines of azure, jet, or gold : 

 Yet though thus ill the fluttering captive fares, 

 Whom heedless of the fraud thy toils trepan ; 

 Thy tyrant fang that slays the stranger, spares 

 The bloody brothers of thy cruel clan ; 

 While man against his fellows spreads his snares, 

 Then most delighted when his prey is man." 



Very poetical, indeed ! and unfortunately 

 too true, so far as the human race is con- 

 cerned, but not so with regard to the spider, 

 for it is one of those few creatures whose 

 ferocious disposition prompts them to prey 

 upon their own species ; nay, even the gentle 

 ties of marital affection do not serve to re- 

 strain its thirst for blood, and it is not at all 

 an unusual circumstance (and one that we 

 have ourselves frequently witnessed), for the 

 female to destroy her mate. 



But if there have been minds that have 

 dwelt upon such terrible and repulsive fea- 

 tures as these, in the history of the arach- 

 nidan species, there are also others in whom 

 the theme has been productive of those gentle 

 and sublime thoughts that suggest themselves 

 sooner or later to every right-thinking man 



