Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1844-04-03
No.a.o

The use Of Spiders. he following am
ecdole shows very clearly that spiders
were not made merely to spin webs and
catch flies; that those things are only
neans not ends-their way of getting aliv-,
| ing, not the object Of life. The story is
told in the last number of the London
Foreign Quarterly Review, ,tin an enter
tanning article on 8 CaIanders and Alman-
acsI" audit is related as being perfectly
authenticated historical fact.-The spiders
thattaushtp patience and perseverance iothe
Bruce Of Scotland, was not more Inn
portant historical parsonage than the spi-i
der Of the dungeonof Utrecht. The story:
runs as follows: =, a.i::Ssz
Quarlremer DisjonyaL a Frenchman by
birth.was adjutant general 10 Holland, and
took an active part OH the side rofthe Dutch
patriots when they revolted against the
Stakeholder. Onsthe arrival Of the Prus.t
sian army Inderthe Duke Of Brunswick,
he was Immediately taken, aud having
been condemned to twenty: Eve years i'm
prisqnmeni, was incarcerated in dungeon
at Utrecht, wherehe remained eight years.
& Spiders, which are the constant and fre-
qnenlly the solccompanions of the unhap-.
py inmates ofsuch places, were almost the,
only living o6jects which Disjonval saw.in, /:
the prison Of fUtrecht.-Pa Partly to beguile
The tedious lnonotony of his life; and partly ],
from a taste which he had .imbibed for NAT:
ura history, he began to seek employment
and eyinently found amusement in watch
ins the habits and movements, of bis tiny.
fellow prisoners. He soon remarked thar
certain actionsofthe spiders wereintimate-
ly connected with The approaching changes
Of the. weather. A violent pain on one !,
side of his head 10 which he was subject at
such times, had first drawn his at,enlionio
the connection between snch changes and
corresponding movements ofLhe spiders.
For instance he remarked tharthose spi-,
ders which spun large webina wheel-likc !.
form, invariably Withdrew from his cell
when he had his bad headache; and that;
these Two signs. namely the paiDiin his:
head and the disapp of the spiders
were Of all things best fttedyto give aecg,s
rate intima,iOn when severe weather might
oc expected. In short DisjongaI pursued,
these inquiries and observations with SO
much industry and intelligence, thar by
femafkinS the habits ofhis spiders, llewasE
allength enabled TO prognosticate Tie ap-:,s
:proach Of severe wealheT from teu:Io four:
teen days before il set 10, wbichf is proved
by the following fact, which led to his re-
lease. ,.. .,..af -, iy.S -; - <
When The troops Of the French Repub-
lie overran Holland il; the winter.of 794, :
and kept pushing forward over the ice, a.
sudden and unexpected thawsin the; early:
part of the month Of Dece cembert threatenedl
the destruction of,tte whole army unless
it was Instantly withdrawn. The French
generals were thinking seriously Of accep- !.
ling sum offered byth Dutch. and with
drawing; their troops. when Disjonyal who
hoped thar the success Of therepublican !
army nigh. lead 10 his release, used, every
exeftion, and atlepg,h succeeded in getting,
a letter conveyed to the, French general.
in January, 1895, in;Ybic6 be pledged!
Himself, from The peculiar: actions Of The
spiders. that within fourteen days there:
would commencesa severe frost, which.
would make the French masters ofailihes.,
Rivers, afford them sufficient lime TO COM,
ple,e. and make. sure of The conquestsfhey
had commenced, before il should be follow.
ed by thaW, ;;.-;, ).
The commander OF the French, forces
believed Misrepresentation and perseYe-,
red.s The cold aeather which DisjonyaI
had announced. made its appearance in !.
twelve days and with such intensity thar
the ice over riyers5a and canals became !
capable Of bearing the heaviest artillery
On,he 2S,h ofJanuary, 1895; the French
army entered Uuecht in triumph and,
Quartremer DisjonYali who had Ratched
his spiders with so solnuchsintelligencc aud.
success, was, as.areward for bis ingenuity,
released from prison. u: {. d e. I.