The St. Johns herald., 1889-03-28
H. GARDEN SPIDER.
Some Interesting Experiments with This
 lnsrlIi.;u; Ens.cs.

Tho Garden SD der tEpci-a diadema) is one of thc m9s1 beautiful, in form and color, of the many hI:d:el species VIC have in England. s2ya 5,l,n,he.S J U57ldl. The man. HcF il which l. Sp,n5 It3 web certainly the EioSt rc., liar i3 Il;ikc-lii =p,ay3 great inge- Euity in t.ic way tho y13J is secured to sus- ts-.-i a 5gG1ol scr2,n ol any part of it. We Eavo bccn watching several czpcrlmentS vgi-h this spider, cf .shich nc following are q fey O. t:lc most interesting:
 f.a- .l 5 ln o.d fern case, .7i.h sides and toDa-i s;.s-.E-e flied Jao bottom with earth, p.2cslo, q. l1Ty StlclI3 firmly ia the soil, so thGttlc spiders would have some projec- 1:cm5 to secure tac.r webs to. The first spider y7c paced i; .Ac cacc was q very fine specimen, nioeiy Inar.-oI ca the top Of the abdomen. Eo t3Jk ter irJ-a Cl old laurel tree ia vi:ca t1crc 7Tcr2 several young ones. The first day siic reEnlmcd crawling about on Ehc ground; but on loolnng next morning, VIC Ioyad q perfect web, spun horizontally across the case, about halfway Up; and en l--..e;iiIiyinr nr tho ends of tho web that wcre f2s.enci l0 Iac glass which was Ycry Cmootil-'?-o discovered the spldcr had trcycd 01t tlc ends Cf 1he Wc5-lineS, ana had fastened fhcra t0 t,lc glass by means of 9 guETy Substance, thus giving it 2 greater power of Gdlesion than by trusting to s.nglc cord. Ko placed 2 small norse-ny in tlo case, where ii soon became cltangied ia thc web, the spider immediately rushing down. 5cLDng, aua Eilhn5It. SLetheR car ried 1t to tho toD of tho glass, and in four minutes hal sucked ali me moisture out Of 1t. She thcl wrapped l. loosely round with web, leaving oniy oEo lIre to It, by which shc carefully lowered It, for about two inches through 9 space in tho act; then cut t.ng She inc with her hiad-fect, she let It fG;ito the ground.
 After this we placed four flies n the case, three Of which were GDccdiiy caught. The o9iGcr havlng evidently eaJCn enough, she dIspocc1 of these flies n q different manner from the first. RGn1ilg to cacl il turn. she turned the fy rapidly round and round with Ecr front legs; Gt the sane tune, two distinct webs kept Ulnulng round tue ny from the spi2ue"ots, un-il t was enCaSed in such bag of web that thc fly could not DC seen. Sho then hlng them in different parts of thc web, eating two of thcm the same night. Thir!-Ilg the flies so wrapped up would be aic-tight, we detached one Irorl tEc web, leaving 1t exposed to the air for tEccc d4ys. Although tho weather was very hot, Wc found, on carefully opening the case, tha5 the doal ly was quite fresh, and when sma5led between he fingers was in Ag NSAA-AAt@CAI" shows their wonderful instinct in prcserV- ing food for future meals.
 One day we p,Gccd in this case a large reatfy, winch immediately flew through the web, tearing 1t in a destructive man ncr. The Gp:dCr at once came down and re- paired lt; and in 2 few minutes the fly was once more ia the woo, struggling hard. This time, the spider ca,no WilhIn about half an inch of the fly, Ta2lo 2 strong cord fact to th-eo Of the o1.sdc lines cf the net, and then running quickly over the back of tho fly, shc made tho cord fast on the other sides. On this cord we noticed tiny beads hanging, of a cicar-loolling substance, which, as the fly struggled, adhered to it's wings, impeding it's movements. Leaving the Ey for nearly two minutes, by which time he was almost exhausted, the spider once more drew near, and quickly had hIm by the back. Swaying her body from side to side at the same time, she soon bound him with three cords, winch she guided about over the fly with her hind-feet Tn a wonderfully rapid manner. She then pierced hIm on the side Of the trunk, from which place she did not again loose until the fly was dead. Making a slight repast, she bound the remains securely in the web, for future mealc. This same spider VIC have now. Last September She completely de- stroyea her web, and spun bright yellow cocoon on the top of the glass, and laid, as near a5 we have yet c-sS-lincd, about three hundred and sixty eggs. She has since then remained hanging on this cocoon. Her body before she laid the eggs was as largo as q small bean; it i5 now (5Guuary) not much larger than a gram Of rapo-secd. She refuscS G!I food, and appears in dormant, if not dying state.
 There was another old spider, of very duslIy coIors, winch we placed in e largo glass jar. Although ho wA5 a very largo one, he dil not cco5t ;Ipy W25, but used to try and catch the flies yzo p,aoo1 ia thc jar by sncallag around tho g.0sS to them while they were resting. 4 few days after, we introduced younger spider, about thrco parts grown, which quietly made very strong and useful web. Tho old spider took no notice of the newcomer until the younger spider had cOmp,cICd Is homo and maGo all comfortable. Then the cd one carefully climbed into the nc5 or web attacked and killed tho owner an.i t2c.I possession Af.er this we placed several flies ln tho jaT, sOmo of which injured part Of tAo WoG, tE2 spider not attempting to repair the damage, not being able evidently to produce 8 web, through old age or injury. To show tho power spiders Lavcof knowing waaO insects they can SS.icly a0ji->S. we p-SCC1 TWO i3rSo ants, which wcro Ecuter5 or workers, ia web. When tho s9:-!c.' emo Gov-a cHl saw who tho visitors vcre, E3 iou from the web to the botto.a of thc jar. whcro Lc lay seem ingly paralyzed with fear. We then re- moved tho ants. Tue spider G;d not return to his web fer thirty 6vo r.m3tc5, and then in an apparently frightened sIG,o.
 We used to feed q fc-lal3 spider v-...h Q fly every morning; ana sh9 becdIo 50 used to the habit, that at last wlcn we shock the net, she would come and t2.lo inc t:y from between our fingers. Unfortunately, sAo died at lhc end cf the season at,cr laying a cocoonfCl of eggs.
 In experimenting in different ways with some of tho small insects many hours nay be pleasantly spent, greatly adding a rich store of knowledge as ;o tho way il which things are endowed according to ther nature of living.
 < Dia5o,:cSl Pot.
 The brutality with which ncWIy-narrled people are treated by their testing friends is constantly receiving fresh LiUstr2tion