i86 With Feet to the Earth 



with insects, especially if you don't care to. 

 They are like some members of the human 

 family in that respect. But most of the 

 fear in which they are held is groundless. 

 Spiders, for instance : what a lot of false- 

 hood is told about them ! There is no 

 authentic case of death from spider-sting, 

 yet sensational newspapers bite several 

 people to death with spiders every year. 

 Latrodectus mactans, a long-legged spider 

 with red markings, is the only kind whose 

 bite is likely to make a sore. The domes- 

 tic centipede is less poisonous than the 

 mosquito, and the tarantula is no more 

 dangerous than the wasp. I have seen 

 grown men dodge the harmless dragon-fly, 

 and some were timid about moths. 



One value of a scientific mind is that it 

 saves one from needless suffering and ap- 

 prehension from beetles and spooks. It 

 saves needless expense, too. A man in 

 my town spent several thousand dollars 

 developing mineral springs on Long Island. 

 There are none. There never will be, be- 

 cause the island is made of pebbles and 

 sand, glacial drift, and has no beds of 



