THE SENSES AND THEIK OKGANS. 307 



he added that he would suffer no injury to be done them. Subsequently 

 he declared it was a diversion with which he often amused himself and 

 gratified his curiosity.^ 



A somewhat similar incident is associated with the distinguished musical 

 composer Ludvvig van Beethoven. According to Schindler, the story, if not 

 originated, was generally spread by a biographical paper on Bee- 

 Beethoven thoven by Dr. Christian Miiller, of Bremen. The tradition runs 



o ■■■ that as often as the little Ludwig i)laved his violin in his 



Spider. , . 



little room a spider, enamored of the strains, let itself down 



and sat ui)on the instrument. When his mother discovered her son's 



■ strange companion she killed the spider, whereupon the little fellow broke 



his violin. Upon this fairytale Schindler comments: "The great Ludwig 



could not recall such a fact, as much as this fable amused him. On the 



contrary, he said that everything, even flies and spiders, would have fled 



before his terrible scratch ing."^ Of course, in view of such statements, 



not the slightest credence can be given to " this pretty fairy tale of a 



poet's invention," and it shows how little credit is often due to these ]iop- 



ular fancies that associate themselves with distinguished characters. 



The well known anecdote of Pelisson, as described by Abbe Olivet, is 

 another example in point. This gentleman was confined in the Bastile 

 during the reign of Louis XIV., and amused himself by feed- 

 „ . , ing a spider, which, from the description, must have been one 



of a Tubemaking species. The hour of feeding was timed to 

 the rude music played by a Basque, who was the companion of his cell. 

 The spider in time learned to distinguish the sound of the music, and to 

 associate it with the season for its special banquet. This story, with 

 various embellishments, has had a wide circulation and belief, though I 

 believe it is wholly discredited by modern historians. 



Cowan quotes an account of a certain young ladies' school at Kensing- 

 ton, England, in which an immense species of spider was said to be un- 

 comfortably common. When the young ladies were gathered for 



" . their morning and evening worship, and engaged in singing their 



accustomed hymn, these spiders made their appearance on the 



floor, as the story goes, or suspended overhead from their webs in the 



ceiling. The obvious attraction, it was inferred, was the sweet singing by 



the worshiping young ladies. 



Walckenaer quoted Gretry as relating in his memoirs that at his coun- 

 try seat a spider would seat itself upon the table of his piano whenever it 

 was played, and would disaj^pear therefrom when one ceased to touch the 



' Sir John Hawkins' History of Music, Vol. III., page 117, note. 



^ Biographie von Ludwig van Beetlioven verfasst von Anton Scliindler. Dritte, neu bear- 

 beitete und vermehrte Auflage. Erster Tlieil, page 3, Miinster, 1S60. See also Thayer's His- 

 tory : Ludwig van Beethoven, von Alexander Wheelock Thayer. Erster Band, page 112, 

 Berlin, 18(10. 



