SPIDERS. 33 



silk, while within the glands, exists in a semi-fluid 

 state ; but when it is exposed to the air it becomes 

 dried, or of a more tenacious consistence, and in this 

 state is susceptible of being drawn out into a fine 

 thread. Think for a moment what happens to melted 

 wax or glue. So long as the heat is of sufficient 

 amount, either substance remains fluid ; but if we draw 

 a little out of the pot on a piece of stick, exposure 

 to the air hardens the wax or glue, and with a little 

 dexterity we can produce the melted substance into a 

 fine thread. This represents accurately enough how 

 and why the semi-fluid silk of the spider becomes a 

 dry thread when it is pressed out through the fine 

 tubes of the spinnerets. 



There yet remains the fact of the many threads 

 which should issue from the spinnerets, and this fact 

 is puzzling enough when you see that the spider really 

 works with a single line. The single thread, how- 

 ever, is formed of the united strands which issue from 

 the various spinnerets ; yet, pause for a moment, to 

 note the fineness of the spider's thread. You are 

 accustomed in ordinary life to talk of " the gossamer 

 thread " as the type of fineness ; yet, what do you say 

 to the plain fact that this apparently single thread of 

 utmost fineness is itself composed of hundreds of 

 different threads ? 



Can the mind find a better illustration of the 

 " indivisibility " of matter? I trow not; and when, 

 in these latter days, we are given to talk and to think 

 of atoms and molecules, and other ultimate forms of 

 matter, it may be well if we give the spider's line a 

 thought in passing as an illustration of life's success 

 in dealing with the excessively thin and the marvel- 

 lously fine. Other spiders than that of the kitchen 



