1879 .] 
513 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Spiders, Spinnerets, and Cobwebs. 
Concluded. 
Many spiders build their nests in the ground, and pro¬ 
vide them with a tube running up to the surface, through 
which they pass in and out. These holes vary from a 
few inches to a foot or so in depth, and are of several 
forms, some of them being provided with very ingenious 
trap doors at the upper end. Figure 1 shows six of these 
tubular trap door nests Beginning at the first one, A 
is seen to be nearly straight, with a thick door partly 
raised, which consists of earth fastened together by 
webs, and hinged upon one side. The next nest, B , has 
a thin trap-door, and such are usually covered with some 
leaves so as to not be easily seen. The third, C, is a 
branched nest, and into this fork the spider retreats for 
safety when molested. Another kind of spider has two 
trap-doors, one at the surface, and another three inches 
or so below, D. The upper side of this door looks like 
the bottom of the hole, and when the spider is attacked 
it runs below this door and pushes it up, when the ene 
my's advance is cut off, and it has not seen the spider, it 
may be deceived and go away, thinking the spider is not 
there. The next kind has taken advantage of both the 
branched-style of hole and the double trap ; the lower 
door being at the junction of the branch with the main 
hole, as shown at E. The last one we will mention, and 
there are many other kinds, one of which is shown at F , 
in which the surface 
trap door is in the 
branch, and this 
branch, after uniting 
with the main tube— 
at which point is an¬ 
other trap door — it 
passes down and away 
from the nest. It will 
be observed that we 
have gone from the 
simplest to the more 
complex, in speaking 
of these trap-door spi¬ 
der nests. Last month 
we mentioned the 
common grass spider, 
that covers the stub¬ 
ble, and other, fields 
with its webs. Figure 
2 represents one of 
these webs, much re¬ 
duced in size, showing 
the tube at one side, 
at the mouth of which 
the watchful owner is 
seen standing, ready for its prey, and down which it 
runs at the first indication of danger. 
The subject of spiders flying is one peculiar and full 
of interest. “ Small spiders, especially on fine days in 
autumn get up on the tops of bushes and fences, each ap¬ 
parently anxious to get as high as possible, and then 
raise themselves on tip-toe and turn their bodies up, as 
in figure 3, with their heads towards the wind and spin¬ 
nerets open. A thread soon blows out to a length of two 
or three yards, and then offers enough resistance to the 
wind to carry the spider away with it up into the air. As 
soon as she is clear the spider turns around and grasps 
the thread with her feet and seems to be very comforta¬ 
ble and contented, until she strikes against something. 
Sometimes they rise rapidly and are soon out of sight; 
at other times blow along just above the ground.” This 
reminds one of a boy getting out on a high place back of 
Fig. 3. —THROWING THE WEB. 
the barn, and fixing up a big kite that will carry him off 
up into the air, when the wind is strong. He might be 
contented, also, until he “ strikes against something.” 
As only small spiders are able to get up successful flying 
machines, this is not very encouraging for such large 
bodies as boys. Spiders are said to go 
on these balloon excursions very ex¬ 
tensively, some kinds “seem to spend 
the greater part of October and No¬ 
vember trying to get as far above 
ground as possible.”—In some cases 
the spider will—while making its airy 
balloon—provide an anchor by making 
fast a thread from one of the side spin¬ 
nerets, as shown in figure 4, so that 
when it is blown away it draws out a 
thread by means of which ft can re¬ 
turn to its point of starting—a very 
wise provision, sometimes, which some 
larger balloonists would do well to 
imitate. That which has been said on 
the subject of flying spiders explains, 
in good measure, the question which 
has troubled so many persons, namely: 
How do they get a web from one high 
place to another ? as from one pole, or 
tree top, to another some distance 
away. If a spider is put on a tall stake, 
surrounded by water, it will remain 
there as long as the air is still, but 
when a breeze comes it throws out a 
web which may be caught, if an object 
is near enough and in the right direc¬ 
tion, when the spider will escape. 
Again, the spider may fasten its web, 
let itself drop, and be swung far to one 
side, when some object may be caught, 
and an air line established between 
two points. The wind is the principal 
aid in the spider’s bridge-building. 
The largest known kinds of spiders 
belong to the Mygale group, and are 
natives of the tropics, the largest one 
of which is called the Bird Spider. 
The body of this spider is three inches 
long, and its legs have a spread of ten 
inches. It lives upon large insects 
and small birds, springing upon and 
killing them; it is especially fond of 
the young of birds, capturing them in 
their nests, fig, 5, to the great dismay 
of the old birds, who can do but lit¬ 
tle to protect their offspring from 
these great, hairy, eight-legged, cold-blooded plunderers. 
The Tarantula is, perhaps, the most familiar, large, 
and poisonous spider in the United States, which is 
rather common through the South, and finds its way 
northward in boxes of southern fruit and other like mer¬ 
chandise. In general appearance it resembles the Bird 
Spider, and is closely related to it, probably a first or 
second cousin. It builds no web, comes out on its raids 
by night, and captures and lives upon the larger insects. 
We must not close without saying a word for the little 
ones, that is, the young spiders. The eggs, after they 
are laid, are covered with “ silk,” the spider drawing the 
threads over from one side to the other, and fastening 
them, forming a cocoon in which the young remain until 
sometime after they are hatched. The cocoons are at¬ 
tached to the snrface of stones and other like objects, 
and are familiar to most people in the country, and, in 
fact, everywhere. Many spiders remain by their cocoons, 
while other kinds die before their young are hatched. 
The most noticeable method of caring for the eggs is 
their eggs on the side of a cold stone and leave them 
there to hatch out as best they may. The majority of 
mankind will continue to look down upon spiders, and 
step upon them when an opportunity is offered. Their 
disposition, which we have seen, is to capture innocent 
that shown in figure 6, whore the cocoon is in the form 
of a sphere, and attached to the end of the body by the 
spinnerets. It is certainly a peculiar sight to see these 
spiders running around with this ball of eggs, half as 
large as the spider itself, bumping about; but it seems 
far more motherly, than in the case of those who put 
Fig’. 5. —THE BIRD SPIDER. 
creatures by sly and unforseen ways; they are not frank 
and open in their dealings, even with their friends, for it 
is a well known fact that they sometimes eat each other, 
with a seeming relish—a sort of cannibalism which is 
Fig. 6.—EGGS ATTACHED TO THE BODY, 
not particularly ennobling even among such creatures as 
spiders. With all the craftiness of the spider, there is a 
sharpness, a spider-wisdom, that makes it interesting. 
“ Christmas Is Coming.” 
The approach of the greatest of all the Holidays is so 
gradual to the many who are looking forward to it, that 
it has become a by-word of slowness. If Johnnie lias 
been at the dasher of the churn for two solid hours—I 
speak from experience—and the only encouragement he 
gets from mother as she opens the cover and looks into 
the white, foamy abyss, is; “It—is—c-o-m-ing” (?), the 
poor boy is quite apt to think to himself—if not give 
words to the thoughts—“and so is Christmas coming.” 
Whenever one is anxious to have the time slip by ; how 
it drags 1 If a girl is going to spend a week wilh a school 
friend it makes the days seem like weeks until the happy 
hour for starting comes. When I first learned that there 
was a fortnight of fun in store for me with some distant 
cousins, I could hardly breathe a breath in comfort, so 
great was my fear that something would happen ; and 
when the morning came for starting I found I had not 
slept much the long night before, and besides, my appe¬ 
tite was wholly gone; but I did eat to show that I was 
well. But above all times is Christmas. The school pic¬ 
nic has its ramble in the woods, and the sail on the lake; 
the Fourth of July its noise and smoke, but, like the fire- 
wheel, it often fizzes out and is over; the 22d of February 
lets us know that the “ Father of our Country ” was born 
in a cold and disagreeable time of the year; Thanksgiv¬ 
ing brings the scattered family home to a bountiful feast 
of good things; but above them all is the dear old day 
from which we reckon our years, the anniversary of that 
