84 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. 



to Mr. Jones, 1 the ladies of that island make use for sewing purposes. 

 Mr. Jones succeeded in reeling from the spider a few yards of yellow 

 silk. 



From time to time, and from various quarters, one gets accounts more 

 or less definite and trustworthy that various rude tribes, and more civil- 

 ized nations, indeed, have availed themselves of spider web fabric for dress. 

 Such is probably the story that found place years ago in an American 

 literary magazine 2 of the Emperor Aurengzebe of Hindostan, who reproved 

 his daughter for the indelicacy of her costume, although she wore as 

 many as seven thicknesses of spider cloth ! I remember reading some- 

 where an account, though the details have passed from memory, of a 

 royal garment woven of spider silk for her Majesty the Empress Victoria 

 by some of the loving subjects of her world wide empire. 



That the silk of spiders can be reeled from their spinnerets in consid- 

 erable quantities I long ago proved by experiment. That little spools of 



silk sufficient for show purposes can be gathered by winding off 

 Sources j.j ie t,hj c k foundation lines from the snares of indigenous Orb- 

 Q.J, ' Jr weavers, I also know ; and further, that many spider cocoons can 



be collected, from which, by ordinary treatment, small quantities 

 of silk thread may be prepared which are available for knitting petty 

 objects. But that aranead spinningwork can be obtained in temperate 

 regions, at least, by any practical process, in sufficient amount to justify 

 business investments, I do not think at all likely for many ages yet to 

 come. Until present industrial conditions shall be so far changed, and the 

 present sources of raw silk so greatly modified as to warrant prolonged 

 and costly experiments, and subsequently large outlays, men will adhere 

 to the silk moth. For mere curios spider silk is available ; for profit- 

 able commerce it is not practicable. However, the efforts to utilize this 

 material in the domestic arts are entitled to some recognition in these 

 pages. 



As early as A. D. 1709 M. Bon, president of the Court of Accounts of 

 Montpelier, communicated to the Royal Academy of that city a discovery 



which he had made of a new kind of silk obtained from the egg 

 M.Bon s bags of several species of spiders, probably Orb weavers. 3 His 

 Atte i t me thd was as follows : Having collected a large number of 



cocoons he beat out the dust, then washed them carefully in 

 water, and allowed them to boil for three hours in a pot containing water, 

 soap, saltpetre, and a little gum arabic. The cocoons were then washed, 

 dried, and c*arded with extremely fine combs. The result was a gray thread 

 much finer than that of the silk worm, and capable of receiving all the 



1 A Naturalist in Bermuda, London, 1859, John Matthew Jones, page 126. 



2 Atlantic Monthly, June, 1858, page 92. 



* Hist, and Mem. de 1'Acad. Roy. des Sciences, 1710. Dissertation by M. Bon, Sur 1'utilite 

 de la Soye des Arraignees, Latin and French, 174s. 



