299 



is the twenty-thousanth part of an inch. No wonder that thepe fine lines are 

 so often invisible to us as we walk in the garden, and that we want a peculiar 

 angle of light at times to detect them, or a hoar-frost to deposit the dew upon 

 them, so that their existence may be very easily made out. Then, you know, in 

 addition to the 20,000 to the inch, to ascertain the measurement of each thread 

 composing the one thread— the cable thread — we have to multiply that number 

 by the number of threads forming it, say 200, 300, 500, 1,000, or more. Well may 

 we say with the Psalmist, " Marvellous are Thy works. Lord God Almighty ! " 



Spiders, like other creatures, have natural enemies ready to destroy them. 

 Supremely may be placed spiders themselves. As is mentioned elsewhere in this 

 paper, they are most pugnacious amongst one another. Murder is common crime. 

 They rather revel in it. Then again, they find many of the creatures caught in 

 their webs ready to do battle with them and fight for their lives. Generally, 

 however, they escape if they can ; it is the better part of bravery. I have some- 

 times seen a spider very doubtful as to whether he would dare to attack a 

 captured insect or not, and, if he did, intensely anxious to be mightily careful of 

 himself. But to keep the spider tribe in check, that they should not increase too 

 rapidly, there are flies which find some of them good food for themselves and their 

 progeny. The ichneumon flies do this, and in a most satisfactory way too. They 

 have stings— they approach the spider and, whilst flying, sting him. The sting 

 benumbs the spider — in fact, paralyses him — he loses all power over himself. 

 Arriving at this state, the ichneumon fly carries him off as food for his family, 

 just as birds carry food to their little ones in the nest. Then again, mankind has 

 no inherent love for spiders. Housekeepers want the corners of their rooms, and 

 their walls, to be free from webs, forgetful very often that through destroying the 

 webs, they are invaded with a host of small podurae, flies, woodlice, and other 

 things which worry them and their household more than spiders and their 

 beautifully made houses, which are placed in spots where creeping things are 

 most liable to travel over. Then again, they do not like their long legs, nor the 

 look of them. Their lengthy hairs, too, are objectionable. A friend once said to 

 me " She considered that spiders were not the work of Almighty God ; she 

 thought Satan must have had something to do with their creation as they seemed 

 so objectionable. " Let them live. In hot climates they may be objectionable 

 and injure us, and therefore be put out of the way. But in England they do keep 

 down numberless small things which otherwise would worry us. 



In a few of the spiders— only a very few — there is a singular arrangement 

 called calamistrum. It is situated in the last joint but one of the animal's hind 

 legs, and consists of two parallel rows of moveable spines so arranged that they 

 make a curling apparatus, used in making the web. Ciniflo atrox furnishes us 

 with an example of this. His web is a singular one, and made as it is by using 

 this calamistrum. I have as yet only seen a drawing of it, which drawing, 

 although peculiar, does not convey a good idea of the curling i^rocess. 



There must be a very great dread in spiders lest they should be attacked by 

 some of their own species and be stung with the poison wherewith they enervate 

 and destroy their prey. A small spider once fell uix)n the web of a larger spider. 



