SPOFFORD SPOLIATIONS. 



539 



build tents near their webs as lurking places. The 

 species which live under stones, or in other places of 

 concealment, all line their residences with silk. The 

 large and well-known webs are built by comparative- 

 ly few species. Of these there are a great variety, 

 from the regular orb-web to that of irregular threads 

 with a tubular den, which is common in grassy 

 fields, and to the dome-shaped web, whose shape is 

 retained by threads which run in various directions. 

 One s[>ecies builds a double web, under the upper 

 of which it lives. The purpose of the lower is not 

 known. The orb-weavers are usually bright-colored, 

 and hang in the web with no attempt at conceal- 

 ment, but some species cover a place iu the web with 

 rubbish, under which they lie hidden. 



Aiming the most interesting of the spiders are 

 those known as trap door spiders. The habit of 

 building underground can be traced through a con- 

 siderable variety of stages. The running spiders, 

 when ready to lay their eggs, seek or make a hole in 

 the ground, which they line with silk for a nest. 

 Others dwell habitually in such silk-lined excava- 

 tions, and build round the month ringsof sticks and 

 stones held together by web. In the species known 

 as turret-spiders the circular excavation is about an 

 incli in diameter and two inches deep, above which 

 is built an irregular pentagon of bits of grass, straw, 

 , etc , crossing at the corners and bound with 

 fiilk. rising to a height of 2 or 2^ inches. The inner 

 surface is silk-lined, and the inmate crouches at tho 

 summit of his tower, peering out for prey. On the 

 sra-shore turrets of tiny pebbles are made, and the 

 sand of the tunnel is held linn by its silken lining. 

 The trap-door spider constructs a similar underground 

 tunnel, the summit of which is closed by a hinged 

 lid, whose surface is covered with moss and other 

 materials to make it resemble the neighboring 

 ground. Just inside this door is the inmate's lurk- 

 ing place, where it clasps the door and holds it down 

 so firmly that it cannot be opened without tearing. 

 The foraging period of thi.s spider is at night, at 

 which time the door is thrown open and it ventures 

 to some distance from its fortress in search of prey. 

 Some of the trap-door species have a second tube, 

 opening into the first, the entrance being closed by 

 a valve-like trap not distinguishable when shut from 

 tho remainder of the tube. In still other species 

 this second tube ascends to tho surface, and affords 

 an avenue of escape in case enemies should break 

 through the two trap-doors. Insect ingenuity could 

 scarcely go further. 



Another common use of the silk thread is in tho 

 making of cocoons for the young. These are small, 

 round b.igs in which the eggs are laid. They are 

 lined with tho softest silk within, and often woven 

 so closely as to be very hard and firm without. The 

 spider pays great attention to its cocoon, which in 

 some species is held by loose threads in the web, 

 iu others suspended by a stem. Some large species 

 niukn a pear-shaped cocoon, which is attached to 

 grass or bushes. Others build a hemispherical one 

 against a flat surface. The running spiders cany 

 the cocoon with them, attached to their spinnerets, 

 and the young, when hatched, are carried for some 

 time on the back of the mother. 



Attempts have been made to use the silk of the 

 spider as a material for fabrics, but with little 

 success. The most recent experiments are those 

 made by Prof. Wilder with a large southern species. 

 He believes that an ounce of thread can lie got 

 from each spider during the season, this thread be- 

 ing from .007 to .004 inch thick, and much smoother 

 and brighter in color than that of the silk-worm. 

 Its fineness is such that several threads need to be 

 twisted to obtain a size suitable for use. The diffi- 

 culty in obtaining the silk, the labor in providing 

 the spiders with food, and other impediments, make 



the industry too expensive to promise satisfactory 

 competition with insect bilk. 



Comparatively little is kuown about the senses of 

 spiders. The general impression that they hear 

 well, and even enjoy music, is not based on fully 

 established facts. They are very sensitive to vibra- 

 | tions, and this probably has much to do with their 

 apparent sense of hearing. The possession of a 

 stridulating organ by some species, however, is an 

 ; argument in favor of their hearing. They seem to 

 ! be short of sight and with little power of appreci- 

 ating form, their simple eyes being very imperfect 

 organs of vision. 



Spiders have many enemies, which attack both 

 the eggs and the mature animals. Parasitic insect 

 eggs are laid in the cocoons, and the larvte, hatch- 

 | ing first, prey on the young spiders. The mature 

 spiders are eaten by savages in many parts of the 

 world, and supply food to birds, reptiles, and in- 

 sects. They are uffected and frequently destroyed 

 by parasitic mites, and some species are destroyed 

 in considerable numbers by wasps, which paralyze 

 them by a sting, and then store them iu their egg- 

 cells as food for their young when hatched. Tho 

 spider, on the other hand, is very wary aud alert iu 

 escaping his foes. Many of them have special lurk- 

 ing places and only venture out to take their prey, 

 others conceal themselves in the web, some have 

 the habit of shaking the web when in danger so 

 violently that they cannot be seen, and many others 

 when attacked at once fall from tho web to the 

 ground, and thus seek to escape peril. (c. M. ) 



SPOFFORD, AINSWORTH RAND, Librarian of Con- 

 gress, was born at Giltnanton, N. H., Sept. 12, 1825. 

 Failing health having prevented him from entering 

 college, ho removed to Cincinnati, and established 

 himself as a bookseller and publisher. In 1859 ho 

 was engaged as associate editor by tho Cincinnati 

 Daily Commercial, and two years later he entered the 

 Congressional Library, becoming librarian in 1864. 

 Under his administration the national library has 

 grown from 70,000 to upward of 600,000 volumes. 

 The office of librarian has become an important ono 

 through the change in the copyright law effected iu 

 1870. By this, all American copyrights are issued 

 from his office, and copies of all copyright publica- 

 tions must be deposited in the library. Mr. Spofford 

 hn.s written much for the periodical press, and has 

 published catalogues of tho Library of Congress ; 

 The American Almanac and Treasury of facts 

 (annually since 1878) ; Library of Choice Literature 

 (10 voK, 1881-88) ; Library of Wit and, Humor (5 

 vols., 1884) ; and Manual f Parliamentary Rules 

 (1884). In 188i he received the degree of LL. D. 

 from Amherst College. As a librarian ho is known 

 widely for his thorough knowledge of books. 



(p. L. w.) 



SPOLIATIONS, FKENCH. This term in American 

 history, denotes tho losses sustained by the owners of 

 American ships confiscated by the French govern- 

 ment during the war between France and England 

 between the years 1778 and 1800. Under the Milan 

 decrees of Napoleon, made to counteract the British 

 Orders in Council, between 600 and 700 American 

 ships and their cargoes were seized and sold. Jef- 

 ferson, as U. S. secretary of state, in 1793 called on all 

 merchants who had suffered or might thereafter suffer 

 injuries, " contrary to the laws of nations and existing 

 treaties," to forward the evidence of their claims to 

 the department of state. In the negotiations for tho 

 settlement of these claims, which terminated in 1801, 

 the French conceded that the claims were just, and 

 repeatedly offered to pay the cash due. On the other 

 hand, certain French citizens had claims against the 

 United States, and the French nation itself had a 

 valid claim for damages. The private French claims 

 were slight and easily settled, but the claim of the 



