SPIDER 



5498 



SPIKENARD 



radiating strands, or spokes; the sticky, spiral 

 threads are covered with minute, pearl-like 

 drops of the glutinous substance to hold the 

 captive insect firmly. 



The delicate, filmy dome is another vertical 

 web of the field and garden, and is suspended 



WEB OF THE SPIDER 



with the opening at the lower side. The single, 

 shining threads which are often hung from 

 grass stalk to grass stalk are spun by the young 

 spiders. Sending out a thread of silk into the 

 air, they float off with the breeze, and spinning 

 more thread as they go, they are blown to new 

 fields. The flying, or ballooning, spiders, thus 

 sailing through the air, have been found in 

 mid-ocean; it is in this way spiders are dis- 

 tributed over the globe. 



Habits and Characteristics. There are numer- 

 ous species of spiders, found all over the world, 

 and differing considerably in habit. The larg- 

 est, found in the tropical regions of South 

 America, are two or three inches long. These 

 creatures prey not only on insects but on hum- 

 ming birds. Another interesting species is the 

 trapdoor spider, which makes a silk-lined bur- 

 row in the ground, and covers the entrance 

 with a lid made of silk, leaves and soil. The 

 crab spider, so-called because it can move back- 

 wards, assumes the color of the flower on which 

 it lives, and hides in the heart of the blossom, 

 waiting there for the unwary insect which will 

 come in search of nectar. Another interesting 

 group, the water spiders, build a water-tight, 

 silken nest in the water, and inflate it by bring- 

 ing down to it bubbles of air carried in the 

 hairs on the body. 



Spiders reproduce by eggs. The female, 

 which is usually much larger than the male, 

 makes a dainty silken cocoon for her eggs, 

 which sometimes number many hundred. 

 These egg cases are usually attached to the 

 end of the mother's body. It often happens 



that the males are attacked and killed by their 

 larger mates. It is usually the female that 

 spins the web and obtains the food supply. 

 Spider silk could be made commercially profit- 

 able for use in the textile industry if enough 

 could be obtained. This is not possible, be- 

 cause any number of spiders placed together in 

 an enclosure would eat each other up. These 

 creatures are among the most shameless canni- 

 bals in the entire animal kingdom. 



Legends of the Spider. There are many in- 

 teresting stories and superstitions surrounding 

 the spider. The lesson the patient spider 

 taught Robert Bruce of Scotland is well known. 

 Discouraged after six attempts to free his coun- 

 try from England, he was wearily watching a 

 spider, which, after six attempts to fasten its 

 web, in the seventh attempt succeeded. This 

 persistence gave Bruce new courage, and he 

 gathered together his forces and overthrew the 

 English, making himself master of Scotland. 

 It has since been considered a crime for anyone 

 of the name of Bruce to injure a spider. 



The old superstition that a fever could be 

 cured by wearing a spider in a nutshell fastened 

 around the neck is mentioned by Longfellow in 

 the tale of Evangeline. 



There is a pretty Greek myth explaining the 

 spider's origin. It tells of a beautiful maiden, 

 called Arachne, who boasted of her spinning 

 and was punished for her pride by the jealous 

 goddess Minerva, who changed her " into a 

 spider. B.M.W. 



Consult Fabre's Life of the Spider; Comstock's 

 The Spider Book. 



Related Subjects. The reader is referred to 

 the following 1 articles in these volumes : 

 Antennae Arachnida 



Arachne Mythology, page 4049 



SPI'DER WEB, a structure spun by the 

 spider to ensnare its enemy and protect its 

 home. It is described in detail in the article 

 SPIDER (which see). 



SPIKE 'NARD, or NARD, a costly perfume 

 yielded by a plant of the valerian' family, na- 

 tive to India. The root of the plant, which is 

 shaped like a spike, or ear, of corn, bears at 

 the top a cluster of thick stems about two 

 inches long, and it is this part that is princi- 

 pally collected for the extraction of perfume. 

 The precious ointment of spikenard mentioned 

 in the Bible (see Mark XIV, 3-5, John XII, 

 3-5), was probably an oil or fat scented with 

 the perfume. The odor of spikenard is not 

 especially agreeable to people of Western coun- 

 tries, but those of the Orient have prized the 



