546 ^ PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. [aNNO 17 10. 



son of this is plain and natural ; for all insects, and a great many other animals, 

 as bears, serpents, mountain rats, &c. that lie hid during the winter, abound 

 with a viscid matter, which is not easily put in motion ; so that it is not strange 

 that young spiders should live in the cold weather on their own substance, with- 

 out any loss of spirits. But as soon as the warm weather comes on, it puts this 

 matter in motion, and obliges them to spin, and run from place to place in 

 search of food: and as soon as they begin to eat, one may perceive them to 

 grow larger every day. From whence we may certainly conclude, that if we 

 could find out a way of breeding young spiders in rooms, they would furnish 

 us with a much greater quantity of bags than silk-worms do : for I have always 

 found; that of 7 or 800 young spiders, there scarcely died one in the year; but 

 on the contrary, of 100 young silk- worms, not 40 lived to make their bags. 



So great and considerable a difference as this, will doubtless move the curio- 

 sity of such as are lovers of the arts, to endeavour to find out a way of breed- 

 ing these insects. In hopes that some lucky chance, or my own industry, 

 might favour me with so useful a secret, I made use of the following expedient 

 to procure a large quantity of these bags, which I now propose to the curious, 

 who may make the same trial of it as myself. I ordered to be brought to me 

 all the large short-legged spiders, that could be found in the months of August 

 and September. These I shut up in papers, and put them into pots, and 

 covered the pots with a paper pricked full of holes with a pin, as were likewise 

 the several papers that were in it, that the spiders might have air. I fed them 

 with flies ; and sometime after found that the greatest part of them had made 

 their bags. But I more easily procured a great quantity of them, by promising 

 to pay the same price for them by the pound as for common silk. This advan- 

 tage furnished me in a short time with a large quantity : and the people 

 assured me, they found no difficulty in getting them ; and that if they were 

 permitted to go into every house, where they saw these spider bags in the 

 windows, they could furnish me with what I pleased. So that we may easily 

 conclude, that there are spider bags enough in the kingdom, to make large 

 pieces of work ; and that this new silk which I propose, is not so scarce or 

 dear as common filk was at first. And so much the more, as spider bags, on 

 account of their lightness, yield much more silk than the others ; as a proof 

 of which, 13 oz. yield near 4 oz. of clean silk; 3 oz. of which will make a 

 pair of stockings for the largest sized man : those I have made, weigh only 

 2 oz. and a quarter, and the gloves about f of an ounce; whereas stockings 

 of common silk weigh 7 or 8 oz. 



It is certain that a great advantage may be made of this insect, which has 



