WEATHER PROGNOSTICATIONS. 81 
“September 13th, 7 A. M.—Sky overcast. 9 A. M.—Showery. Argi- 
opes working in the rain and between the showers, Some are hanging in 
the centre of their webs by a few lines with their webs melted around 
them. They begin to build, and finish beautiful webs. Other spiders are 
also at work. 6 P. M.—It has been cloudy and rainy all day. September 
14th.—The severest storm known for many years has been raging all along 
the sea coast. The spiders are badly out in their predictions. ; 
September 17th, 1889.—A beautiful display of webs on the vines in the 
manse yard. Argiope cophinaria especially, but other species also have 
made snares, which I have rarely seen equaled for beauty. 
1 P. M.—One of the heaviest rains of the season has fallen this morning. 
Evening, the whole afternoon, and night has been cloudy. Frequent vio- 
lent rains. . . . September 18th.—The papers are full of particulars of 
the violent local rain storms of yesterday. . . . September 20th—A 
cold and clear day. Spiders are out upon their webs, but the Argiopes are 
mostly engaged in cocooning. 
“May Ist, 1890—Warm bright day, many spiders out with new webs, 
Epeira strix and the young of Snap ios pene hortorum and Theridium tep- 
idariorum. A storm came up about 5 P. M., and rain has fallen at short 
intervals up to 8 P. M.” 
It is useless to continue these qu®ations, as my notes are fairly repre- 
sented by these given above. Any one who reads them must come to the 
conclusion that either spiders have no ability to prognosticate the 
ordinary weather changes of a summer season, or else they are 
so indifferent to those changes that they spin their webs regard- 
less of them. My conclusion is that the persons who trust to the presence 
or absence of spider webs as an infallible prediction of the state of the 
weather will frequently be disappointed. 
Conclu- 
sion. 
UE 
That spiders have in some way been associated with good or bad luck 
is a widespread superstition, which dates indeed from classical times. A 
very few of these superstitions may not be quite out of place 
erated ti here. ite is an old ae and Scotch notion that small spiders, 
pane * termed ‘ ‘money spinners,” are held to prognosticate good luck if 
they are not destroyed, or injured, or brushed off from the person 
on whom they are first observed. To destroy these money spinners is held 
“an equivalent to throwing stones at one’s own head.”! One might feel 
justified in encouraging this fancy both on the grounds of mercifulness 
to animals, and as covering at least the germinal truth that spiders do 
contribute roundly to man’s good fortune by their faithful service. 
is a Southampton superstition, which appears to survive to this day, 
1 Jamieson’s Scottish ees 
