STRENGTH OF WEBS AND POWER OF SPIDERS. 235 



The assertion must be taken with much allowance, that nets of geometric 

 spiders are renewed wholly, or at least their concentric circles are replaced 

 every twenty-four hours, even when not apparently injured. 1 In 

 ofan point of fact the renewal does not take place unless made neces- 

 sary by the destruction or serious injury of the old snare. The 

 reason assigned for this behavior by the same authors, viz., that the 

 spirals rapidly lose their viscid properties by the action of the air, is 

 not founded on fact, as is elsewhere shown. 2 The viscid beads retain 

 their adhesive qualities under ordinary circumstances for a considerable 

 time. It is doubtful if any orb becomes thus disabled in so short a period 

 as that assigned twenty-four hours except when exposed to rain. 



II. 



At various times there have been placed on record accounts of the cap- 

 ture by spiders of small vertebrate animals, as snakes, mice, and birds. 

 Popular stories to the same effect have from time to time been 

 Physical gent ^ roun( j s O f the daily press, and found utterance and often 

 ower o iUugtratJon, the latter sometimes of a most original and remark- 

 able character, in popular magazine literature. The great seem- 

 ing disparity in such cases between the size and vigor of captive and pris- 

 oner ; the confusion of the various narratives in details as to the spe- 

 cies and behavior of the spider, and the characteristics of her snare; the 

 radical departure from known food habit of species that are insectivorous; 

 together with the fact that the accounts all have come from lay observers, 

 have been more or less lacking in scientific accuracy and minuteness of detail, 

 and wholly without scientific verification these considerations have caused 

 such records and reports to be discredited by arachnologists and naturalists 

 generally. But there are a few cases, confirmed by circumstantial evidence, 

 and reported by observers of good reputation and careful habit, which de- 

 serve notice. 



The physical powers of the Lycosidse, the popular running, ground, or 

 wolf spiders, is well illustrated by an instance recorded in the Proceedings of 

 the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 3 The result as reported 

 was achieved by pure strength and activity, without any of the mechanical 

 advantages of a snare. Mr. Spring, while walking with a friend in a swampy 

 wood, which was pierced by a dyke three feet wide, was attracted by the 

 extraordinary movements of a large black spider in the middle of the 

 ditch. Closer observation showed that the creature had caught a fish ! She 



1 Kirby & Spence, Intro. Ento., I., page 419. 2 See Chapter V. 



3 Proceedings, 1859. The account was presented by Mr. Lesley, from notes furnished by 

 Mr. Edward A. Spring, of Eagleswood, New Jersey. It was confirmed by a personal interview 

 with Prof. Spring, at Chautauqua in the summer of 1885, who repeated to me the details of 

 the incident. 



