Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1890-04-12
FACTS ABOUT SPIDERS.
Wonderful Evidences of Intelli-
gence That They Exhibit.
Class of Creatures to Which They Belong
All Are Poisonous-How They Spin
Their webs-PrOper Way to
Preserve Specimens.

1.-THE spider, you know, is not an in
sect. 1t belongs to one class in a
group of creatures called 'arthropods,
which includes three other classes also
the crustaceans, such as crabs and
Holsters, the insect proper and the
myriapods or centipedes. The spiders
class. known as the 'arachnide, Is dl-
yided into eight orders"
Goodness mel" exclaimed the st.
Louis Globe-Democrat writer, who was
already becoming a trifle confused.
Eight orders" repeated DIR. George
Marx, of the chronological bureau in
the Department of Agriculture, who
owns the finest collection of spiders in
this country. 1.-THE lowest order of the
class is found in the 'pentastoma, a
worm-like creature that has been dis
covered in the eye of rattlesnake, the
liver of negro and the intestines OF
dog. Next in the scale of development
comes the mites and ticks, which are
not so essentially b!ood-sucking Great
ures as is popularity supposed; they
live on the juices of plants ordinarily,
and it is the exceptional one that ever
gets an opportunity for a taste
of gore. Then follow the false
scorpions, minute and without
tails. which live in mold and decay
ing books. Above them by step is the
order of 'galleodes,' Notwithstanding
beasts of some size, which are found in
the South and Southwest, and are said
TO destroy herds of cattle sometimes by
their bites. The daddy longlegs' are
NEXT. and then the spider, after which
come the 'pedipalpi,' that have fore
claws to clutch with. Here is pedi-
palpus in this bottle; you see it is hor-
ribie-loo5ing lobster-like animal, most
unpleasant to meet anywhere, and quite
six inches long. 1t is called the mule
killer or niger killer in the South,
Snd though commonly thought to be
very poisonous it is in reality perfectly
harmless. The only weapons it has are
glands that emit vinegary odor so
penetrating that if you hold it your hand
will smell of vinegar for half day
sfterward.
"All spiders are pOisonous-that is to
saw, they secrete in their mandibles
powerful venom, which is elected through
little hole in the extremity of the
mandible when the bite is inflicted.
The most dangerous of all spiders, so
far as am aware, is the so-called black
widow which has red dot on the I'M
der side and is very generally feared.
To this variety belongs the celebrated
katipo, which the New Zealanders
dread so much. 1t is very small, and
accounts are given by the natives of
many human beings and beasts being
killed by it. However, no cause of
death from spider bite has been salts
factorily proven by the exhibition of
the dead person, the spider and the
bite; therefore, there is still good
deal of room for doubt. Spiders usually
will run away from human being; but
one family, known as the jumping
spider, is very aggressive. You have
often seen the jumping spider. 1t is
hairy, and has three red spots on the
rear of the back. One often finds it in
houses and on warm walls; point your
finger at it and it will jump at the finger
and bite. Otta Lugger, formerly of the
Department of Agriculture, has placed
on record the case of his little girl who
was bitten by an 'attus, as this spider
is called. She Immediately went into
spasms, and was quite alarmingly i'll.
The most striking system of severe
spider bite is a rigidity like that of
tetanus or lockjaw."
"How is a spider constructed?"
''The spider is distinguished from in
sects by a very important point Of
structure. The insects have a head,
chest and an abdomen, but the spider
has no head at all, scientifically speak
ing. In other words, the spiders head
and chest are in one piece. The animal
is covered with horny shell and is
soft inside; it has heart, liver, nerves,
brain, intestines, arteries, veins and
eight eyes. Also it possesses eight legs,
or two more than insects have. Ninety
five of every hundred spiders that you
find in webs are females; the males are
only about one-twentieth of the size of
the females anyway, and the only object
of their existence seems to be the con-
tinuation of their species in the distaff
line. They do nothing in the world but
loaf after coming of age, appear to eat
nothing at all, and soon die. While
they are growing up they act exactly
like female spiders. The female has at
the end of her posterior extremity an
elaborate spinning apparatus. Six ex-
ternal spinning organs there are, tubular
in shape, into which open from ten to
four b,,pI rad c,oinOipr Glands ocoor1-
ing to the variety of spider. Each
gland, all operating together, spins
separate thread, and the spinner manip-
ulates the threads by holding them be-
tween the teeth" of her comb-like
claws. The poorly-equipped spinner,
as to glands, with only few threads at
her command, walks along with thread
always in her grasp, to catch herself by
If she tumbles, and captures her prey
by jumping at it. But the good spinner
trusts to the web she has built so artls-
ncally, and simply lies in wait for VIC
tins to tumble into her trap"
Does not the manner of building the
web exhibit remarkable instinct?"
We'll, should say so. The term in
stlnct however, means nothing; it is
merely vulgar name for what is in
reality inherited experience. A spider
knows how to construct a web by reason
OF the fact that the art has been grad
ually acquired through the observation
sna experiment of thousands Of gener-