240 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. 



grains for one ten and a half inches long, and fifty-one grains for one 



eleven anil a half inches long.^ The two together weigh less than a 



(juarter of an ounce! Thus, a web of the Medicinal spider will 



^®i^^!' sustain with perfect ease the weight of four such snakes, will 



of Snake. , . ,., i n , i i j-i 



even support six or seven readily, and will not break until 



tlic weight of eight snakes, each larger than the Batavia specimen, has 

 been placed upon it. So far, therefore, the account is wholly probable.'-^ 

 The mechanical torsion caused by the struggles of the serpent would 

 of course add to the natural effect of gravity, but would probably not 

 counterbalance the excess of resistance in the web as here shown. The 

 simple statement that a snake was suspended in a spider's web appeals 

 to ideas and associations that produce at once wonder and unbelief. A 

 snake ?— that is a huge object ! A spider's web ?— that is a very frail 

 thing ! In point of fact, however, when the test of weights and meas- 

 ures is applied, our notions on both these points may easily be reversed ; 

 for some snakes are certainly very slight creatures, and certainly some 

 spider snares liave much strength. 



The above incident does not stand alone. The late Dr. Asa Fitch, 

 well known as an American entomologist, published an account of tlie 



entanglement and elevation of a snake, resulting in its death. 

 Therid- ^^j^^ heroine of this adventure was also a New York spider, 

 ^°^ resident in the village of Havana, Chemung County, N. Y. 



Snake ^^"^ ^'^ described as "the common house .spider;" "an ordinary 



looking spider of a dark color, its body not larger than a 

 common hou.se fly." These are such indefinite terms that they give 

 little clue to the scientific name of the animal, and can hardly be ex- 

 cused as coming from a trained entomologist. However, several details 

 are noted in the narrative which give good circumstantial evidence that 

 some species of Theridium is meant, very probably our common Therid- 

 ium tepidariorum.^ 



This spider had woven its snare beneath the counter of a village store. 

 A "common silk snake" about a foot long, which had been probably 



brought into the store in a quantity of sawdust, took up its 

 TheSer- residence on the floor underneath, two or three spans distant 

 pent ^^^^^^^ ^j^g spider's snare. When first seen the spider had placed 



a loop around the serpent's neck, from tlie top of which a 

 single thread was carried and attached to the under side of the shelf, 

 whereby the head of the serpent was drawn u^) about two inches from 



■ Determined from alcoholic specimens in the collection of the Philadelphia Academy of 

 Natural Sciences. 



- The diflerence of weight hetween an alcoholic and living specimen is considered )>y 

 Dr. Leidy so small that it need scarcely he estimated. 



'The account is taken from the .XmiiumI nf S(i<'Mtilir Di.^i-nvery, ISdl', pafic :'.:M. Tlic 

 original record is not quoted. 



