Red Wing sentinel. [volume] (Red Wing, M.T. [i.e. Minn.]) 1855-1861, 1859-06-11

VIZ WV ANA L W IL 4Nss Ox1
IA wORDON BEHALF or THE mUCI
| ABUSED.
The spider, at the same time highc
and lower than the insect, is separate,
from him by organization, but draw
near to him in instincts, wants, an,
diet. She, strongly characterized il
every respect, is still excluded from
the q . I'd animal classes, and is, as i
were, apart in creation. Amid tn
Luxurious vegetation of the tropics
where game is superabundant, sh,
lives in society. Spiders are cited witt
stretch around a tree vast net il
common, the approaches to which
they guard in perfect concert. Still
further: having often to deal witt
powerful insects, or even with small
birds, they share the danger together
and give each other q helping hand.
But this sociable mode Of life is
quite excertionable, confined to Ger
tain species, and to the most favored
climates. Everywhere else, the spi
der, by the fatality of her life and or.
ganization, has the same character a.
the hunter and the savage, who, sup.
porting themselves by uncertain prey
remain envious, suspicious, exclusive
and solitary.
Add to this, that she is not like an
Ordinary lunter, who has nothing be-
yond his toll, his journeys, and his
personal activity to think of: Her
sportsmanship requires considerable
outlay to practice, and demands a
constant drain on her capital. Every
day, and every hour, from her own
proper substance she is obliged to
draw the material necessary for the
net which is to provide her with food
and renew her substance. She there.
fore exhausts herself in order to feed
herself; she reduces herself in order
to tatten herself; she becomes lean OH
the uncertain hope Of gaining fcsh.-
Her life is lottery, depending on the
chances of a thousand unforeseen con-
tingencics. Such an existence can
not fail to make All unquiet being with
but little sympathy for its fellow crea.
lures, in whom it secs nothing but
competitors; in short, an animal ia.
tally egotistical. Were she different,
she must perish of hunger.
The worst is, that the poor thing is
thoroughly and Fundamentally ugly
She is not one Of those who, ugly
when seen by the naked eye, become
handsome under the microscope. Any
TOO strong speciality Of trade, as we
witness i'll the case Of men, shrivels
up one limb, exaygerates another, and
excludes general harmony. The black
smith is often hunpbacked; in the
same way, the spider is potbellied.-
In her, nature has sacrificed everything
20 the trade, to the need, and to the
industrial apparatus which will supply
the need. She is a work.woman, a
rope maker, a threal-spinncr, and a
weaver. Pay no attention to her per-
son, but to the produce of her Skill
She is not only spinster, she is fac.
tory furnished with spinning jennies.
Concentrated and circular, with eight
feet planted around her body, eigh,
watchful eyes on her head, she sur
prises you by the eccentric prominence
OF her enormous belly--an ignoble
feature, in which the careless and SUI
perticial observer would behold moth.
ing but gormandise. a
| Alas! it is quite the contrary. lie,
belly is her workshop, her warehouse
1t Is the bunch Of tow which the cord.
spinner carries round his waist to make
the yarn he is paying ou'. But, as
the spiders tow is her own proper
substance, she can only increase its
quantity at her own expense, by prac-
tlcing the utmost self-denial. You
will often see her, emac:ated in other
respects, carefully outstanding her
swollen treasury, which contains the
indispensable elements of her labors,
the hope of her industry, and her only
chance for the future.
At the extremity Of her abdomen
four spinnerets, capable of being
pushed out or drawn in like 4 tcle
scope, shoot forth, by movement o1
their own, tiny cloud which gradu'
ally increases. This cloud is composed
of threads of extreme fneness. Each
spinneret secretes thousand, and the
four combined make, with their tou,
thousand threads, the single thread.
sufficiently strong, with which the web
shall be woven. Note we'll that the
threads Of this intelligent manufac.
turer arc not all alike, but are of diff:
ferent quality and strength, according
to their destination. Some arc dry, to
make the warp; others are viscous, to
glue the fabric together. The threads
of the nest to receive the young are
like cotton; those of the cocoon, to
protect the eggs, have the resistance
necessary to insure their safety.
Everything that lives feeds on prey
Nature herself devours herself; bu,
the prey is not ALWAYS earned and