338 TJt^ Garden- Spider as an Architect. [Sess. 



company of uncles and aunts, the legend of the awful catas- 

 trophe which overtook that nice little lady Miss Muffet, when 



" There came a little spider, 

 Who sat down beside her." 



We never appear to get over the lesson so ingrained ; and, 

 though we would hardly care to acknowledge it, yet even 

 when we have arrived at years of discretion, and possibly 

 have young " Miss Muffets " of our own, most of us would 

 sooner face a mad bull than allow a spider to run over our 

 face, or even our hands. In ancient times, however, justice 

 was done to the spider. The wise man enumerates it amongst 

 the " four things which are little upon the earth," yet are 

 " exceeding wise." By the formation of such societies as ours, 

 however, throughout the country, an intelligent interest has 

 been developed regarding the habits of a number of the lower 

 animals, with the result that some of those which were at one 

 time looked upon with the greatest aversion by certain indi- 

 viduals, are now the cherished pets of these very people. 



There are about a hundred kinds of spiders, and most 

 interesting they are, one and alL Some of them are very 

 beautiful, while the manner in which they weave their webs 

 is tridy wonderful, that of the garden-spider being so exquisite 

 in design and workmanship as to earn for the framer the title 

 of the " Geometric " spider. In hot climates spiders attain 

 a great size, and spin webs strong enough to ensnare small 

 birds ; and there is a well-authenticated case of a spider cap- 

 turing a black snake more than a foot long, and thereafter 

 lifting it into the air a helpless prisoner. It is also said that 

 spiders are the most weather-wise of all creatures, and that 

 by a careful study of their movements, impending changes in 

 the weather can be foretold with great certainty for days 

 previous. They are also exceedingly ingenious, in proof of 

 which a gentleman frequently placed one on a small upright 

 stick, and surrounded the base with water. When the little 

 creature found that he could not escape by the ordinary route, 

 he ascended to the point of the stick and ejected a thread 

 into the air, which soon attached itself to some of the sur- 

 rounding objects, and along this line the spider effected his 

 escape. 



