The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1870-08-07
MISCELLANY

A1SCELLANY
Ho,c Spider Builds. its Web.-W. c..
Richmond, of Geneva, Ohio, sends to the
Journal the following curious account of
how spider builds it's web: "While at
work one day in the field, accidentally
destroyed the web Of 2 common pid =
Curious to know what the little
would do in its great calamity, made my
self comfortable, and awaited results. The
spider, not in the least disheartened by it's
loss, Immediately commenced building
another web. It first described circle,
not regular, but agreeing with the irregu-
larities of the spires of grass on which it Was
suspended in vertical position. Having
strengthened this outer line (which NAV
be likened to the felloe of carriage wheei)
by passing around it several times, adding
each time thread, it proceeded to form the
spokes. 1t assembled to the upper edge of
the circle, and, securing its thread, swung
off, slowly descending until it reached the
lower edge, where it fastened the other
end. Ascending this last formed line to
about the centre, and fastening its thread,
it proceeded again to the circumference,
thus forming another spoke in the wheel.
1t continued this operation until enough
spokes were made, then, beginning at cen
tire or hub, it passed round and round in
enlarging circles until it had formed some
six or eight threads, about one fourth of an
done
with that care which marked it's subse-
quent work; but it was only intended las I
afterward saw, to be q sort of stay-lath, and
not permanent affair. It now darted to
the outside of the web and commenced to
weave in the woof, which was done by
around the wheel in diminishing circles,
the distance between them being deter
mined by the length of the spiders hind lea
for it walked on the line spun at the pre-
vious revolution, and guided the new
thread with one of its hind-fee holding it
toward the centre as much as possible, and
allowing it to run between two of it's claws
az around pulley. AS it passed over each
spoke, it would, with his hind foot, press
the newly formed thread to it, thus firmly
uniting it. In the same manner it pro-
ceeded on until it came to the stay laths,
when it fell to work, and in a twinkling,
tore them away and soon finished its work,
and retreated to its corner to await the ap-
prOach of some luckless fly. Twice during
the operation its thread broke, but, not
noticing it until it got to the next spoke, it
did not retrace it's steps, but fastened it
where it was, thus leaving break. Nearly
all of the webs. that l have examined have
the same defect. That which surprised
me most was the extreme rapidity of the
spiders movements, as it was not probably
more than ten minutes from the time of
destroying the web before another was
completed"
A process for preserving timber has been
tried in New York with success. There is
in all green wood an amount of putrescible
matter combined with the sap. If this can
be got rid of, the timber will keep sound
and it is got rid of.by soaking the timber
warks in plain water. Borax has an ad-
vantage over some other chemical sub
stances used in the seasoning of timber; it
does not attack or weaken the woody fibre,
or the structural tissues, or cellular mem
brane, however delicate. This being the
case, may we not suppose that by treating
different kinds of wood with borax, del
icate appearance would be i'm parted,
which would render them valuable for Or
namental purposes.
Belgian Mners.-The Food Journal gives
some interesting statistics in reference to
the food of the Belgian miners. According
to the reports, which it takes as authentic,
the Belgian miners eat two pounds of bread
per day, about two ounces OF butter, one
ounce of coffee and chicory mixed; while
for dinner they have in the evening a por-
ton of vegetables mixed with potatoes,
Weighing at the most one and a half pounds.
They have meat en- Sundays and festivals,
but during the week they drink neither
beer nor other fermented liquors. Coffee
is their only beverage. Yet these work.
men are hardy and healthy. 1t is not the
coffee which sustains them, for it consti
properties of their aliment, though M. de |
Gasparin, in paper read some time ago
before the French Academy of Sciences, |
attempted to prove from certain tables, |
that the waste in liquid excretion is less |
where coffee is drunk than at other times. |
The miners coffee is not like the French |
cafe au lait; for it has but one tenth part of |
milk in it he drinks several pints of it in
the day, and cats only bread and butter
until the vegetable meal of the evening.
The albuminous substance which enters |
into the rations os the Belgian miner is |
thus reduced from twenty three grammes
to fifteen grammes of azote. This is less |
nutritious even than the diet of the monks |
of La Trappe. Here is, therefore, proof
that life and health can exist throughout |
a whole population with less nutritive SUBJ
stance than is generally considered neces-
sary.
Quails traverse more than one hundred |
and fifty miles in a night; an assertion
proved from the fact, that the crops of
these birds, on reaching the southern
shores of France, are found to contain the
seeds of African plants which they had
eaten the day previously. Martins and
swallows easily accomplish from nine to
twelve hundred miles in twenty-four hours.
Wild ducks, at q single flight, are known
To travel over the incredihle apace of fifteen