The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-09-17 00:00:00

SPIDER TRAINING.

Captain Holden's Mueseum of Spiders which has just
been removed from Marietta, in Ohio, to Cincinnatti
is one of the most complete collections ever made by a
naturalist (says the Globe). A taste for spiders is a,
somewhat original fancy, and may excite more sur-
prise than the passion for bees and ants in which 80111 e
of our countrymen indulge with much credit to them-
selves. But a nearer acquaintance with the habits of
these creatures shows that there is almost as much I
varie4 and skill in the construction of their works as
in the operations of the insects most commonly admired.
The American museum includes 25,000 specimens '
collected during a long campaign extending ever
more than twenty years. The number of species re-
presented is no less than 4,000, and they vary in size
and shape, and in almost all the details of the curious
art by which they get their living. Amongst them
are those kinds which frequent gardens, those which
pass their lives in houses, in barns, in cellars, and
amidst ruined walls; in hedges, bushes, trees and
forests. Some of them are of microscopic size, and
others big enough to weave lines almost resem-
bling twine, and to make nets in which small
birds are caught. This latter species actually
subsists chiefly upon the winged prey which
thus falls into its clutches, and the mere task
of feeding itself must involve a great deal of
trouble and expense. The American collector
keeps his pets in glass cages, where they are comfort-
able enough, but it is not stated whether he finds time
to ,tame or train any of the specimens. If he did so,
he would only be imitating an example set him so long
ago as in the reign of Louis XIV. One of the un-
fortunates imprisoned by this Bing in the Bastille was
Pellisson-Fontanier, who was the author of several
important works, including a "History of the
Academy." He offended the irritable monarch by
some publications written while in prison, and being
consequently deprived of the use of paper and ink, he
turned his attention to a spider which was his com-
panion in captivity, and succeeded in reducing this
insect to a state of complete docility and obedience.

SUDDEN DEATH.

A startling ease of sudden death occurred on Mon-
day morning in the 10.30 a.m. train from Ipswich ,
to Newmarket. Colonel Thomas James William
Bulkeley, of the 10th Hussars, had been staying for a
few days with Sir John Stanley Errington, of Great
Glemham, near Saxmundham, and left that place
early on Monday morning with his valet Frost, to
go to Rotherham on a visit to Lord Fitzwilliarn.
All went well up to Ipswich, nothing unusual being
observed in Colonel Bulkeley's manner, and at that
station trains were changed, Colonel Bulkeley getting
into a first-class compartment which was reserved for
him. At Bury the valet intended to speak to his
master as to changing the labels on the luggage, but
abandoned his intention on learning from the guard
that he was asleep. To all appearances thi.4 was
the case, as Colonel Bulkeley was sitting up in one
corner of the carriage, with his head leaning on one
hand. At Kennet, nine miles further on, an effort
was made to awaken the sleeper by the guard, the
valet being with him. It was then the former found
' that the colonel was dead. The train proceeded to the
next station, Newmarket, and the body was taken to
the Rous Memorial Hospital. The deceased was born
in 1840, and was unmarried.