American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1873-11-15
Spiders.

ooh! here is spider! Nasty thingl
kill itI' said little Tom.
"Stop!' said papa; what harm has he
done?"
"Well, papa" said Mary, coming to lit
tie Toms aid, 'does he not entrap and kill
| the flies? He's a cruel, sly, spiteful
thing! Ugh! / shudder to look at it,''
Papa, by way of reply, took up plate
with a poison fy-paper, on which were
several dead flies. Mary understood the
silent reproof.
ooh, papa! you know the flies must not
have it all their own way. If we did not
use the fiy-papers we should be quite over
run with flies"
81 do not blame you, my dear, for using
| f1y-papers, but on the same ground must
speak word for the despised spiders;
they are Gods fly-papers to check the ex-
cessive abundance of flies. All kinds OF
animal, and vegetable life also, if left to
increase without check, would soon over
run the earth, and instead of the harmony
and variety now existing, we should have
the earth monopolized by few animals
and plants"
"WeIl, papa, but spiders are such ugly
things"
THAT is no reason why they should be
killed as a matter of course whenever we
see them; but don't think they are very
ugly, and they have beauty of their own,
fulfil a useful purpose in nature. Per-
haps you would like me to tell you little
about them?"
Eyes, papa, please do"
"Well, my dears, the spider is in the
| first place, very skillful. What wonder
| full thing is its web. How fine! how per-
| feet! When a spider cannot fasten all
| parts of its web TO corners or twigs or
| posts he attaches his web to small bit
| of gravel, which hangs down as a weight
| to balance and keep the mass of the web
stretched out. If bee or wasp be
| caught in the web the spider will help it
to get free, for he does not like to attack
| such big insects
"How cleverp' said Mary.
by microscope l could show you
the spiders eyes. He has six or eight,
| and you would be surprised to find how
| bright they are. His skin too is very
beautiful, often covered with bright spots;
and when the skin gets worn and dull, he
| sheds or changes it, and comes cut in
new suit of Clothes"
"Dear me, how wonderful" said little
Tom.
EYES," continued papa, "and he also
has new set of legs now and then, and if
one be pulled off or broken, a new one
grows again, so that he never has to limp
about with a wooden leg. 1 have heard
the same of the crabs.'
"Oh, papa! and the lobster" said
Mary.
Eyes, the spider is very much like the
crab 1t has claws at the end of its legs,
and two short fore-arms that enable it to
grasp its prey tightly. Now you see that
the spider can do many things besides
| crawl
"Oh, yesl" said Mary; che can drop
down from his web like stone just as far
as he likes, and then run up again as
quick as a monkey up pole; and he can
swing himself by his wonderful web in
all directions; really, papa, he is very
clever! But what else can he do?"
"He can feel and TASTE" said little Tom.
EYES," said papa, 'and how exquisite
| must be his powers of feeling to be able
to pull his web like lot OF ropes; and
each thread of this web, though so fine, is
| composed, like rope, of several smaller
strands. But the spider can also hear
very well, and is also able to foretell the
| weather.
"How do we know that?" inquired
Mary.
"When storm or frost is coming he
| goes away from his web and remains
| snugly in his nest" replied papa.
II wonder that he has not sense enough
| to be taught, remarked Mary.
at really can be tanned. A poor
prisoner once had no companion but
poor spider, and he was so gentle and
patient with it, that in time it came and
ate out of the prisoners hand. Now,
Mary, do you think the poor prisoner
would have been pleased had he killed
the spider?"
"Oh no, papa! 1 don't think l should
like to kill one now. Poor thing! 1t has
as much right to live as l have. But is
there no fear of spiders becoming too
| numerous? ~
81 think not" replied papa; spiders
cannot live without food, and they re-
quire great deal. A spider will eat six
or eight times its own weight in a day, so
that you see he keeps flies in check by
destroying great numbers. If pressed by
hunger, spiders will also destroy one an
other so that there is no fear of their be-
coming pests, and no need, l think, for
little boys and girls to crush them when
ever they see them."-N. Y. Observer.