410 
spiders the male is inferior to the 
female in strength and size, one 
shudders to think how often this 
gruesome domestic drama _ is 
acted. There is, however, one 
ray of hope for the poor male, he 
is more active and more agile than 
her he woos, so let us trust he 
sometimes puts discretion before 
chivalry and does not scorn to 
run away! 
In her motherly instincts, too, 
the spider is anything but old- 
fashioned. She does not allow 
her young to be much trouble. In 
the case of the garden spider 
(Araneus), the eggs are laid in 
a cocoon, which is _ suspended 
somewhere near her web and 
about which she troubles no 
more However, one must own 
that most spiders are a little more 
concerned for their offspring and 
carry them about on their backs 
till they are big enough to fend 
for themselves. 
We have sometimes wondered 
what the strands of gossamer are 
that float down onto our noses 
from apparently nowhere, and 
have sometimes wondered if they 
were spun by some particular 
species of spider that did not trouble to form them into a web. 
Sometimes the air is full of them and we see them lying, like 
a white film, on bushes and trees. We learn, however, it is 
a youthful sport of young spiders of different species. On 
fine autumn mornings they climb to the tops of fences and 
bushes and emit a thread or tuft of threads which soon be- 
come strong enough to bear them, and on which they sit 
and let the wind carry them to great heights. Lucky young 
spiders! How we envy them their youthful sport. Would 
The veil of the morning 
AMERICAN HOMES, AND GARDERE 
A fairy’s hammock 
The web of the garden spider 
October, 1909 
that we too could manufacture a 
flying machine so easily and inex- 
pensively, how gaily would we 
float off to great heights on fine 
autumn mornings! 
After all, the worst has some 
redeeming trait, and with the 
spider it is certainly his gift of 
spinning and the beauty of his 
webs will help us not to judge 
him too harshly. 
Not a few learned scientists 
have given years of their lives to 
the scientific study of spiders, and 
have produced weighty tomes em- 
bodying the results of their 
researches. To the scientist, of 
course, the spider has scientific 
value, as has many another un- 
interesting creature and natural 
phenomenon; but the housewife 
has not yet been trained to learn 
of their domestic efficiency nor to 
appreciate their housely advyan- 
tages. Perhaps this state of 
affairs may never be_ brought 
about; but it is most unwise to 
announce results in the world of 
science, for very many times 
what seemed definite conclusions 
have been swept to one side 
by some brilliant discovery or 
some unexpected conclusion. 
I have not, however, thought to write of the scientific 
aspects of the spider, but simply to draw attention to the 
real beauty of many of his webs. These are often more than 
charming and more than ingenious. The student of Nature 
may well pause for a moment in ‘his scientific studies, and 
enjoy, if he can, the ethereal but real beauty of these won- 
derful nature-creations. It will be time well spent and thor- 
oughly enjoyable. 
A web still wet with dew 
