SUPERSTITIONS REGARDING SPIDERS. 83 
Another notion connected with spiders is that certain kinds of wood 
prevent their settling and spinning cobwebs. There is a common saying 
at Winchester, England, that no spider will hang its web on a roof of 
Irish oak, and the cicerone who shows the Cathedral Church at St. Davids 
points out to the visitor that the choir is roofed with Irish oak, which does 
not harbor spiders, though cobwebs are plentifully seen in other parts of 
the cathedral. ! 
The same faculty of repelling spiders is attributed also to chestnut and 
cedar woods,” and the old roof at Turner’s Court, Gloucestershire, four miles 
from Bath, which is of chestnut, is said to be perfectly free from cobwebs.® 
Hence, it is said, the cloisters of New College and of Christ Church are 
roofed with chestnut.* ; 
I have at least once met this superstition in Italy, and am free to say 
that there is no basis for it in fact. I do not remember ever to haye visited 
a public building, particularly a church or chapel, in which I have not 
been able to trace somewhere the webs of spiders. No doubt, however, some 
_ public edifices are inhospitable sites for araneads, simply for the reason 
that they give little encouragement to the presence of those insects which 
form a necessary part of spider subsistence. Naturally enough, spiders will 
not resort to and cannot abide in places where they do not procure sufficient 
food. The spiders which are most frequently found inside our homes and 
public edifices are certain Lineweavers, mostly of the genus Theridium, and 
one or two species of Tubeweavers. To these spiders we are indebted for 
the common cobwebs of our ceilings and corners. The above are only a 
few of the curious beliefs that have grown up around the spider among 
all races of men. A number may be found in Cowan’s work heretofore 
quoted.® 
IV. 
The possible commercial value of spider silk as an available textile in 
industrial art, has often been considered. It is not surprising that one 
who sees the immense snares and bulky cocoons of tropical 
ee araneads or of some American species of Nephila, Argiope, and 
a Bisel. Epeira that inhabit Florida and Southern California, should 
Axt, think that such quantities of strong and beautiful spinningwork 
might be put to practical use. As early a traveler as De Azara® 
tells of a Paraguay spider whose spherical cocoon, an inch in length, was 
utilized for spinning by the inhabitants of that land, not only on account 
of its bulk, but its bright and fast orange color. It is probably a con- 
gener of Nephila clavipes, the “silk spider,” of whose silk, according 
‘ Notes and Queries, second edition, IV., 298, and Id., 377. 
*Thid., page 523. ’Thid., page 421. 
‘Thid., page 298. 5 Curious History of Insects. 
° Voyages dans L’Amer. Merid. Don Felix de Azara, 1809, I., 212. 
