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About Spiders. 



Spiders offer certain disadvantages and many advantages in 

 their use as objects of nature study. The fear which they inspire 

 in both children and teachers is a disadvantage; tlieir actual capa- 

 city for making shght wounds by biting is a disadvantage of more 

 importance, in that it cannot be quite so readily overcome. The 

 abundance, variety, wide distribution, and interesting habits of 

 spiders and the ease with which they may be kept aUve and 

 observed in captivity are preponderating advantages. A word as 

 to the biting and poisoning capacity of spiders. The bite of no one 

 of the common small spiders of house and field and garden should 

 cause an}' anxiety; if there is no anxiety there will be no trouble. 

 The bite ot the tarantula and large running spiders may cause 

 some pain. But there is absoUitely no necessity of being bitten 

 at all in studying spiders. I have never been bitten by a spider 

 and I have studied them, as much, at least, as the nature study 

 teacher is asked to in this lesson. 



Spiders should be studied both in the schoolroom and out of 

 doors. The suggested work is divided into schoolroom work and 

 field work. The getting acquainted with the spider's bodj' and 

 some of its feeding habits and even some of the spinning can be 

 done in the schoolroom. The rearing of spiders from the eggs, 

 and the observation of the habits and growth of the spiderlings 

 should also be done in the schoolroom. But the .study of the 

 homes of spiders, the different kinds of webs, and the general 

 habits ot the different common kinds of spiders, as well as the 

 manner of web-building, must, most of it, be done in the field or 

 garden or along the roadside; in a word, out of doors. 



Identifying and Collecting. 



Spiders are too familiar to require any special diagnosis for 

 identification. There are, however, many kinds of spiders, and 



