78 Gencral Notes. (January, 
AQUATIC Spipers.—-Waiting beside a mill-pond on a mild, ] 
balmy day last March, a slight wind prevailing but not enough 
to ruffle the surface of the water, I noticed a spider let himself 
down into the water from one of the trees bordering upon ‘the 
pond, and as soon as it reached the water the web or strand wa 
severed with such a length attached to his person as to act asa i 
sail and serve to assist his propulsion, with the favoring breeze 
to the other side. oe 
Numerous spiders followed the same procedure with webs of 
varying lengths from three to eight feet. I supposed this Wa | 
their method of crossing from side to side in search of more’ 
abundant food. w 
I may perhaps be only repeating what was before well-known, 
but as it was new to me I give it for what it is worth.—George 6 
Henning, Washington, D. C., Nov. 17th, 1883. ie 
Tue Puyttoxera IN Sanpy Sort.—The London Times, imi 
recent issue, contains a dispatch which gives the condition of the 
French grape crop, as follows: Ro 
“ Only twelve of the southern departments seem satisfied with 
their vintage. The yield in general is expected to be even below 
the average of late years. Burgundy and Champagne ie 
yield extremely deficient, both in quantity and quality ; War 
Macon counts upon a better crop than had been predicted, though 
of somewhat poor quality. In Charente the quality 1S also 
oor.” : 
The same dispatch, in summing up the observations of Lalai 
mayor of Bordeaux, on the conditions of the vines in the! 
loxera-infested sections of the country, gives a most tavof 
French vines at Aigues-Mortes are flourishing in the sandy $ 
thus emphasizing the fact of the impotence of the Phylloxe 
such sandy soils. : 
roughly demonstrated, by the most careful tests, on several ai 
sions, that when Maclura aurantiaca is properly use for m 
