78 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. 
French general wherein he pledged himself, from the peculiar actions of 
the spiders, of whose movements he was able to judge with perfect accu- 
racy, that within fourteen days there would be a severe frost, which would 
make the French masters of all the rivers, and afford them sufficient time 
to complete and make sure the conquest which they had commenced 
before it would be followed by a thaw. The commander of the French 
forces, it is stated, believed these prognostications, and pushed on his 
armies. The cold weather, as Disjonval had predicted, made its appear- 
ance in twelve days, and with such intensity that the ice upon the rivers 
and canals was capable of bearing the heaviest artillery. On the 28th of 
January, 1795, the French army entered Utrecht in triumph, and Disjonyal, 
as a reward of his ingenuity, was released from prison.? 
One might think that, under the circumstances, the French captive 
would have been safe in predicting a change from a sudden thaw to 
severe cold in the Netherlands at that season of the year. No 
ae great amount of prophetic skill would be required to make a 
success in like circumstances at least nine times out of ten. 
Nevertheless, a prediction based upon such commonplace affairs as the 
ordinary course of the weather would doubtless have produced no impres- 
sion upon the mind of the commanding general; but when fortified by 
the strange and mysterious association with the behavior of spiders the 
prediction must have appealed powerfully to the imagination, and, sup- 
posing the truth of the story at all, have turned the balance in favor of 
the plan recommended by Disjonval. Nevertheless, the spiders obtained 
and have retained credit for the matter. ‘ 
The popular notion that spiders are reliable barometers of weather 
changes is thus well expressed by the late Mr. Wood: Spiders are all very 
chary of using their silk, and never trouble themselyes to make 
The Pop- webs when a storm is impending. They are, therefore, excellent 
agus barometers, and if they all take to mending their nets or spin- 
ning new webs, fine weather is always at hand.* It has hap- 
pened to me numbers of times to hear predictions of the weather based 
upon the condition of spider webs, made by American farmers in various 
parts of the country. From what I have heard I imagine that the notion 
is widespread, particularly throughout the Middle and part of the New 
England States. 
I have tried to find whether there exists in Nature any sufficient basis 
for this opinion, and to that end have made numerous notes of my ob- 
servations. It is undoubtedly true that spiders are sensitive to weather 
changes, that is to say, extremely cold weather or long protracted rains 
will keep them in or drive them to their nests or other retreats under 
1 Quarterly Review for January, 1844, quoted by Cowan. 
2 Rey. J. G. Wood, “Homes Without Hands,” page 320. 
