September 15,1881. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
251 
with. One circumstance that ought to be in favour of spider3 
is this, they chiefly destroy insects in their perfect or imago state. 
In so doing they frequently stop the deposition of those eggs that 
would develope into a future brood of tormentors ; and as the 
lives of some spiders last two or three years, though they may be 
more or less torpid during the depth of winter, each individual 
spider in these instances must kill many hundreds of insects 
during its period of existence. 
In some parts of the continent the utility of spiders is recognised 
by gardeners, as is the case with the species called Theridion 
benignum, abundant in autumn almost throughout southern 
Europe. The cultivators of the Vine believe that its webs, which 
are often so numerously distributed over the branches as to leave 
scarcely any of the bunches of Grapes exposed, keep off a variety 
of insects large and small. This does not occur in Britain, al¬ 
though we have native species of that genus. The specific name 
was given to record the fact that this spider is of an amiable dis¬ 
position, free from the cannibal tendencies notorious in others, 
where the smaller males are apt to fall victims to their larger 
female relatives. 
It is not altogether unnecessary to state that there is no reason 
to apprehend any ill effects from the bite of a British spider, even 
of the larger species, supposing one succeeded in piercing the 
skin, which is hardly possible, at least I have never heard of an 
authenticated instance. In hotter countries it is different. If we 
reject the story of the Tarantula—as well we may, for the tarantula 
dance of Italy is evidently a kind of epidemic connected with a 
nervous derangement—there are still spiders that are certainly 
venomous. One of these which occurs in Spain has the inelegant 
appellation of Latrodectus malmignatus, and it might be im¬ 
ported by chance were it a house or garden species ; but fields 
are its resort, where it seizes grasshoppers and locusts, killing 
them instantaneously, and though it is small in size its bite has 
proved fatal to human beings. 
We have not said all that might be said in favour of spiders as 
a group when we have commended them as insect-killers. The 
silk they produce has been tried for manufacturing purposes, but 
the difficulty has been to obtain a sufficient quantity to work 
upon ; it was also found almost impossible to clear the silk from 
extraneous substances so that it could be carded. It is not likely 
to rival the silk obtained from the Bombyx tribe, but the stouter 
threads are really serviceable in another way. Placed across the 
divisions of the micrometer they serve to measure minute spaces. 
To the web of the spider a medical or surgical value is attached 
in some places. There are still districts of England where these 
webs, formed in a sort of bolus, are swallowed as a cure for local 
fevers and ague, and it is a fact that applied to small wounds the 
material acts as a styptic. To those of us who are engaged in 
horticultural pursuits it is especially interesting to find that 
spiders have the repute of being “ natural barometers,” and their 
movements or their inactivity at various seasons of the year have 
been taken as indications of approaching changes in the weather. 
A degree of uncertainty, however, is connected with all prog¬ 
nostics drawn from the animal world. To give a familiar instance, 
birds hover low and are restless before rain, so it is said. Quite 
true, but they will manifest this uneasiness in the presence of a 
heavy cloud, which, from some cause does not produce rain, and 
passes over to another locality. I have noticed that in winter, 
when spiders are observed to be on the move during mild weather, 
it is probable that no immediate fall of the temperature is im¬ 
pending. In the summer or autumn a renewed activity on their 
part subsequent to rainfall may be deemed a hopeful sign, for 
they seldom attempt to repair their webs while the weather is 
unsettled. 
It will be observed that spiders have been referred to as insects, 
and insects they will, I doubt not, be styled by the majority who 
are not naturalists. Even the students of their structure and 
habits are doubtful whether they are insects or crabs, hence they 
have by some been exalted into a separate class—the Arachnida. 
Their natural affinities certainly bring them near the insects, 
although there is an absence of distinct transformations, the 
growth of spiders proceeding by means of successive moults. Nor 
do we discover in the body the threefold division into head, 
thorax, and abdomen, the head being merged in the thorax. The 
legs are eight in number, whereas insects having attained to the 
imago stage can only display six, but then the first pair in spiders 
appear to be “ palpi ” or feelers somewhat modified. 'The inte¬ 
gument or skin of a spider closely resembles that which is notice¬ 
able amongst all orders of insects, and its breathing is performed 
by organs in the abdomen, which are like the trachem or air- 
tubes of insects. The spinnerets of the Arachnida are in many 
respects peculiar, and different from the organs by which some 
insects secrete silk. 
Owing to the diminutive size of many spiders, the dexterity 
with which others conceal themselves, or the resemblance in 
colour they bear to the substances amongst which they are to be 
found, few persons are aware how abundant spiders are in every 
direction. On and under the bark of trees are numerous spiders 
at all seasons of the year upon their foliage, and upon the leaves, 
flowers, and fruit of almost every plant these insects spread their 
snares. Walls, palings, and old buildings are well-known resorts ; 
stones, large or small, serve also as hiding places, and many 
spiders are constantly running over the surface of the earth, 
heaps of dead leaves, or rubbish.—J. B. S. C. 
THE LOUGHBOROUGH BOILER. 
This new boiler that has just been brought out by Messrs. 
Messenger & Co. of Loughborough, has been designed for heating 
the small structures of amateurs satisfactorily and economically. 
The advantages claimed for this boiler are that it is portable and 
does not need setting in brickwork, hence is a tenant’s fixture ; 
further, no stokehole is required, the boiler being placed on the 
ground at the end of the house inside, the face of it, or feeding 
portion, being flush with the outside, and consequently fed from 
Fig. 43.—The Loughborough Boiler. 
the open air. All that is necessary is to place the boiler in 
position and connect the pipes, flow and return, with indiarubber 
rings, and take them along the front of the house under the stage. 
The boiler, being inside the house, might be utilised for supplying 
bottom heat to a propagating case, that could easily be fixed over 
it, such aids for striking cuttings being always of great service for 
amateurs. The boiler, we are informed, works admirably, and we 
direct attention to it as it promises to be of great service in 
heating small structures in villa gardens. The feed syphon is at 
the extreme end of the pipes, the outlet for smoke being in the 
front of the boiler (as may be seen in fig. 43), to which a pipe is 
attached that reaches above the roof or as high as is needed. 
Further particulars of this boiler will doubtless appear in adver¬ 
tisements, or may be had from the makers at the address above 
given. 
/3s, 
□ft: 
JJL 
Si 
. it) 
■y M— / 
o_o > 
Q 
WORK, F0 U rHE 'WEEK,. ' 
HARDY FRUIT GARDEN. 
Except attending carefully to ripening fruits, little requires to be 
done in this department at the present time. Trees against walls 
ought to be examined every morning, and all Peaches, Nectarines, 
Plums, and Figs removed as soon as ripe, not allowing them to become 
dead ripe, as it is generally considered that the fruit of the Peach and 
Nectarine with the finer Plums are improved in flavour by placing 
them for a few days on the shelves of a well-ventilated fruit room. 
The earlier Apples and Pears should be gathered as fast as they 
become ripe, handling the fruit carefully. Some judgment must be 
exercised, for if gathered too soon they will shrivel, and if allowed 
to remain too long upon the trees the fruit is deteriorated, not un- 
frequently being mealy and flavourless. Late Plums, Peaches, and 
Morello Cherries should be securely netted up. Remove or stop for 
the last time all unnecessary growths on espalier, bush, pyramid and 
cordon-trained trees, also trees trained to walls, so as to give the 
ripening fruit the benefit of the sun and air, also to accelerate the ripen- 
