126 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Aug. 17, 190 1 
which is not usually the geometric center, but nearer the 
top than the bottom. Radiating lines are then spun from 
the center in all directions. In doing this the spider often 
crosses from one side of the web to the opposite, so that 
the finished portion is always tightly drawn, and the ten- 
sion of the completed web is the same in every part. 
■'Having finished the fraJhework, the spider begins near 
the center and spins a thread spirally around the web to 
The Third Spinneret of Epeira.— a, common spinning tubes. 
6. large spinning tube. The glands, C: e, caeca or gland tube, f, 
glandular epithelium, g, the outer slcin of tlie gland, h, duct. 
d, ducts belonging to the large spinning tubes (6). Magnified 40 
diameters. 
the circumference, fastening it to each radius as it crosses. 
The distance between the spirals varies with the size of 
the .spiders, being about as far as they can reach. This 
spiral thread serves to keep the parts of the web in place 
during the rest of the process, and is removed as fast 
as the web is finished. It also furnishes a ready means 
The first spinneret and the second pair of spinnerets of Epeira.— 
aa, common spinning tubes, bh, large spinnmg tubes, cc, ducts 
leading to the glands of large tubes (b) of first spinneret, d, duct 
leading to gland of the large tube (ti) of second spinneret, ee, some 
of the glands and ducts of the common spinning tubes. Magnified 
40 diameters." 
of crossing from one radius to another where they are 
furthest apart. All the thread spun up to this stage of the 
process is smooth Avhen dry, and will not adhere if touched 
with a smooth object. 
"The spider, having thus formed the web, begins to put 
in the final circles at the outside, walking around on the 
scaffolding previously prepared. She gradually destroys 
as she proceeds, until in the finished web only a few turns 
in the center are left. The thread of the circles last spun 
is covered with viscid globules, strung upon it like beads 
at short distances. If an insect comes in contact with 
the thread it immediately adheres, and its struggles only 
bring a larger part of the body into contact with the web." 
A description of the apparatus by which the silk is 
produced will be interesting at this point. The silk is 
contained in a series of glands within the spider's abdo- 
men, in close proximity and attached to the spinnerets. 
These glands communicate, according to Mr. Underbill, 
with the silk tubes by ducts. Each gland has its own 
duct and silk tube. On the first pair of spinnerets there 
are about sixty silk tubes; on the second pair, although 
the spinnerets are smaller, about eighty. The silk tubes 
on these two pairs are alike ; but they differ in shape from 
those of the third pair, and are much larger. There are 
nearly 220 tubes on the third pair, thus making altogether 
about 360 on the six spinnerets. 
The silk secretion in liquid form passes through the 
gland tubes, and from there it is conducted by the duct to 
the spinning tube, and then by the spinnerets they are 
imitcd in filaments, from which the web is spun. 
The spinnerets are the exterior parts by which the web 
is spun. They are, I believe, usually six in number, and 
are arranged in pairs. The illustrations of the spinnerets 
of Epeira show the characteristics of each, and indicate 
how each pair differs from the others. The offices of 
these three different pairs of specimens are varied, each 
having its peculiar product, the first pair making the thick 
threads which form the beams or foundation of the web, 
the second pair producing the spiral and crossing line, and 
the third pair making the viscid thread which forms the 
Proprietors of shooting resorts will find it profitable to advertlat 
them in Forest and Stream. 
Fang and poison bag of spider. Magnified 50 diameters. 
outer lines of the structure. Mr. Emerton gives the fol- 
lowing very interesting account of the habits of the spider 
after her web is made: "When the web is finished she 
stations herself in the center, where a small circle is left 
free of the adhesive threads. Her usual position is head 
downward, with each foot on one of the radii of the 
web, and the spinners ready to fasten themselves by a 
thread at the least alarm. She often remains in her hole 
with one foot out and resting on a tight thread con- 
nected with the center of the web, so that any vibration is 
quicldy detected. If the web be gently touched the spider 
will rush into the center and face toward the disturbed 
part. She will then jerk smartly several of the radii lead- 
ing in that direction to see if the intruder is a living ani- 
mal. If this test is followed by the expected struggle, she 
runs out toward the victim, stepping as little as possible 
on the adhesive threads, seizes it in her jaws and, as soon 
as it begins to feel the effects of the bite, envelops it in a 
silken Covering, and hangs it up to suck at her leisure." 
[to be continued.] 
Life Savingf ffom Dtowningf, 
First — Impress upon parents the necessary duty of having their 
children, taught to swim, and upon all young persons the great im- 
portance of knowing how to swim. At every important place on 
the waters of this State our volunteer life-savers can be found 
to give them lessons that may ultimately save their lives in some 
unlooked-for disaster — the ability to even hold one's self up for a 
few minutes until help may come every year saves many lives. _ 
Second — Go out in no pleasure boat of small or large dimensions 
without being assured that there are life-saving buoys or cushions 
aboard sufficient to float all on board in case of an upset or 
collision. 
Third — With a party be sure you are all properly and satis- 
factorily seated before you leave the shore — particularly so with 
girls on board. Let no one attempt to exchange seats in mid- 
stream, or to put a foot on the edge or gunwale of the boat to 
change seats. This, by rollicking girls, has upturned many a boat 
and lost very many lives every year in the waters of this State. 
Where the waters become rough from a sudden squall or passing 
steamers, never rise in the boat, but settle down as close_ to the 
bottom as possible; keep cool until the rocking danger is past. 
If overturned, a woman's skirts, if held out by her extended arms, 
while she uses her feet as if climbing a stairs, will often hold her 
up while a boat may pull out from the shore and save her. A 
non-swimmer, by drawing his arms up to his side and pushing 
down with widely extended hands, while stair-climbing or treading 
water with his feet, may hold himself several minutes, often when 
a single minute means a life; or throwing out the arms, dog- 
fashion, forward, overhand and pulling in, as if reaching for some- 
thing — that may bring him in reach of help. One of our best 
swimmers upon the Hudson got his first and best lesson by being 
capsized in midstream and compelled suddenly to strike out for 
himself. ^ 
Fourth — In rescuing drowning persons, seize them by the collar 
back of the neck; do not let them throw their arms around your 
neck or arms. If unmanageable, do not strike them, but let 
them drop under a moment until quiet, then tow them into the 
shore. If unconscious, don't wait a moment for a doctor or an 
ambulance, but begin at once. First get the tongue out and hold 
it by a handkerchief or stocking to let the water out; get a 
buoy, box or barrel under the stomach, or hold him over your 
knee head down and jolt the water out of him; then turn him 
over side to side four or five turns, then on his back, and with a 
pump movement keep his arms a-going from pit of stomach 
overhead to a straight out and back fourteen to sixteen times a 
minute until signs of returning life are shown. A bellows move- 
ment on the stomach at the same time is a great aid. Of course 
you will at first loosen collar and all binding clo.thing. Let some 
one at once remove shoes and stockings, and at the same time 
rub the lower limbs with an upward movement from the foot to 
the knee, occasionally slapping the soles of the feet with the open 
hand. Working on these lines our volunteer life-savers have been 
successful after two hours of incessant manipulation, but generally 
succeed inside of thirty minutes. Spirits of ammonia to the 
nostrils or a feather tickling in the throat often helps to quicken,, 
but we rarely need anything more than the above mechanical 
means. Use no spirits internally until after breathing and cir- 
culation are restored; then a moderate use of stimulants or hot 
tea and a warm blanket or bed is of the first importance. 
The U. S. Volunteer Life-Saving Corps of this State has dis- 
tributed several thousands of its illustrated "Rescue and Resus- 
citation Cards," through its Hfe-saving members, and per mail 
will furnish them to any one on receipt of the cost of postage and, 
mailing tube, five cents. But if any of your readers will cut out 
this article from your paper and study its instructions and carry 
it with them, they will be able to meet any emergencies that may- 
occur upon t^e waters. J- Wesley Jones. 
The Snared Partridge and the 
Rocketing Grouse. 
It was in Connecticut, as tramping along a ravine. T ; 
espied ahead of me a magnificent cock partridge sus-! 
pended in midair. As I neared the bird I saw the horse- 
hair that, attached to a sapling, had choked out its life. 
The slender hair had quickly done its work, the noose 
holding the bird at the base of the head. Not a feather' 
was ruffled. The wings were closely drawn to the body, 
and the legs distended and held close to the feathers. The 
dark neck plumes lay closely in place. So smooth and 
compact was every feather as to lead one to imagine how 
a falcon might look when dropping upon its prey with 
distended head and neck , and closed wings. 
I stood and admired the gamy bird come to an inglorious 
and untimely end. He had for the last time outwitted 
the dog and gunner. He had led the dogs through brush 
and tangle for the last time, and the roar of his wings 
thirty yards away among the hemlocks would be heard no 
more. Fate had decreed that no more should he startle 
the dogless gmmer by breaking cover at his heel with a^ 
roar, and immediately dart behind a convenient hemlock, 
to the chagrin of the hunter. 
And when I had feasted my eyes upon his beautiful 
form and lines, I forthwith detached the noose from his' 
neck and dropped him into the game pocket of my coat- 
taking care to kick the snare to pieces and breaking the 
horsehair line and noose. A little hard, perhaps, on the 
pot-hunter, who missed a good dinner, but such things as 
snares Avere against the law, and what else was there to 
do but appropriate the game and destroy the trap that 
caught it? So much for the dead partridge; now to the 
living grouse. 
It was on the Minnesota prairies, and sharp-tailed grouse 
were our quest. They were plentiful, and were found in the 
stubble fields usually, ■ except during the middle of the 
day. While one could walk within range of them, and, 
perhaps get several shots before the birds had all flown, to, 
allow the dogs to work ahead of us meant the flight of^ 
every bird in the field beyond gunshot approach. 
In crossing a stretch of high prairie grass, quite a dis- 
tance ahead we could see a depression where the grass 
grew sparsely, ajnd in the center of which was a patch 
not three feet square of such grass as one would see on a 
lawn. 
When we were within about eighty yards of this spot, 
out from the surrounding grass walked a cock grousc; 
directly to this oasis of velvety grass, and, arriving, 
there, stood still. We had been seen by him as he en- 
tered the open, and there he stood, like a bird statue, 
watching us coming closer and closer. The tramping of| 
our boots upon the prairie sod may haA^e warned him of 
some lurking danger, and perhaps he had gone to this 
open spot to look around. But there he stood, his legs, 
body and neck rigid, his eyes following our every move- 
ment. We walked nearer and nearer, expecting to see him. 
flush at any moment. Realizing that the time would come 
when his discretion would master his curiosity and he 
would take wing, we discussed as to whom the chance of 
shooting should be given. Hutch had been "wiping the- 
eye" of some of us on soine long shots, cleanly killing — ^ 
after we had gotten through with our second barrel — so 
we agreed that he should keep a pace in advance and take 
the shot as the bird flushed. We were now about forty; 
yards away, and for a few moments the grouse had shown 
a restlessness that clearly betokened flight, when, crouch- 
ing to the ground, with one tJound and a whirring of 
wings he was instantly up in the air. Hutch fired one 
barrel, and quickly followed with the second. Up, up, 
up, the bird darted, cleaving the air and following a line 
of flight as nearly perpendicular as one could imagine a 
Ijird to fly. Higher and higher he mounted, seemingly a 
hundred and fifty feet in the air, when instantly his 
course was arrested, his head now pointed downward and, 
toward us, his wings became set as he took his doAvnward 
flight. He was surely covering the isosceles of a tri- 
angle. His flight had been perpendictdar, and now he wasS 
darting almost like a hawk to the earth at a long incline. 
It was as perfect a piece of bird rocketing as I ever 
witnessed, as when finishing his flight that bird dropped 
dead at our very feet. 
One single shot had entered its brain. 
Charles Cristadoko. 
Boston Gunners. 
Boston, Aug. .to. — The law went off on shore and 
beach birds July 15. At first the weather was too oppres- 
sively hot for gunning, but lately it has been more favor- 
able, and some good bags of summer yellowlegs have 
been made off Sci^uate and further down on the cape. 
Several gunners are now at Monomoy and Chatham. 
Along the North Shore there have been some good 
flights already, with more looked for. Ipswich Bay is a 
favorite resort. L. T. Caswell made a bag of 25, mostly 
vellowlegs, the first day he was out. C. H. Tarbox was 
ilown on the marshes the other day and got 38 birds, 
About the first of the season he counted twenty gtmner; 
■on the marshes in one day; they got from 2 to 20 bird.'- 
each. L. J. De Pass, who is at Plum Island Camps 
with' his mother, writes his father, L. W. De Pass, of tlui 
Chamber of Commerce, that he took his gun along wher 
he went on an errand the other day. He says: 'T sa\\ 
four yellowlegs circling around. Pretty soon they li. 
down on the marsh, and I crept up to them. I waiter 
till they were all in a bunch, bi:t before I could shoot, am 
flew off. I fired and killed the three left; then turnei 
and took the fourtli one on the wing. Soon after twr 
mo* flew over. T shot one with each barrel." Hi: 
father thinks that such shooting is not bad for a boy o 
fourteen. The next dav he was out and shot 20 sand 
pipers He is also very proud of having shot i ploNcri 
the first of the season there. Every letter gives soim 
account of shooting. His father is training the boy fo 
s wing shot; tells him that any body can shoot a bn-ii 
