Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-09-13

WHITE NfcE-wArcuiSo HorsE SPIDER MAXI
HTa WICKLOW THE rRrI Is cArrrErp-rHE
PARROT sSp rHr sFIpER-rAcrs Asour rSsrcr~
n ANING occasion TO visit the trivats
,SR studio of a distinguished sclcn,ls, and
H. naturalist OF this city few DAYS AGO o
III Sr,A representative wa, sOmevha, sur.
~9lJ prised TO hear tho low notes Of a fiute
stealing from the apartment he was about 10
enter. He found the learned naturalis, per-
| forming to a strange audience. consisting Of
pair OF rats and half dozen beautiful pink
eyed white mice. Seeing the surprise of THs
sraR man the professor proceeded TO explain
the situation.
Perhaps you know" said he. that prefer
natural history 90 speoial,ies OF my general
profession. Naturalists hold that most AMI
mails are sagacious in proportion as they calti-
| waite society. was induced 20 the companion
ship OF these singular animals on account %
the historical incident OF poor Eatude. who
| daring his thirty years confinement In tho
Bastile made companions OF the rats that
sought his dungeon cell. aud whiled away many
| tedious hour in teaching the SELF imprisoned
rodents tricks and traits. One day when bic
straw bed had been changed he discovered a
piece OF elder stem in tho newly brought
straw. or this piece OF elder with buckle
from his small clothes. after days OF arduous
labor, he fashioned a sort OF hagcolct The
hrst notes from his simple reed startled the
rats and one by one they came crowding around
him as IL charmed by the simple notes. and he
| finally taught them many little performances
| TO the magic spell OF music.
THE PRoFEssoR's SUCCESS.
81 have not yet acquired the same affection
for or with my family. you SEQ around. but
l have developed some in,imac- between US.
See that mRs,odon Norway rat in the cage
stand upon its hind legs and half reach for this
| morsel OF meat-now the other, the mate
seems 70 beseech for its portion. Upon the
| hitting OF my finger toward them they hon
around each other like trained doSs-a little
| whistle and they both sit down quietly to finish
| the repast just gave tnem."
| The little white mice ran at liberty around
the ROOM going aud coming a. they pleased
| from their cage and running under the chairs.
perfectly unconscious OF fear. The professor
then played several low notes on hls tlute. when
| the rats dropped their morsels and ran and
| climbed the wires of the cage as AZ in ccstacies
| while the little white mice gathered IN a group
| IN the center of the room. their little pink ewes
| dilating IN seeming delight. The music ceas-
| ing both the rats and mice returned TO their
former Inattentlon.
PET SPIDER AND HER WIZ
The bay window OF the professors room vas
irregular partier Of native and exotic flower
ing plants, and from one corner OF its ceiling
hung spiders web that would have made an
| expert OF Nalenciennes green with envy
| fehssons and others experiments with
| spiders and all the good that they have said OF
the much maligned insects induced me-" said
the professor. Ito spare this beautiful web aud
TO watch the habits o It's builder and occupant,
! which have preserved for nearly two Years
| The result OF my observation a pastime upou
the habits Of this particular spider has been
| highly entertaining and instructive. and some
what az variance with the description Of
| naturallsts generally. This Is a common WEBB
weaving house spider. The species of spider
that roams about IN search of prey
| does not weave nets, but lives m
holes or hssures, where IL NAV retreat
| from danger. The Woodworking spider hes in
| covert in one corner OF his net aud soon as
| an Insect becomes cntancled he rnshes upon
his victim, piercing HIM aud emitting into tho
wound fatal poison or all tho insects that
have ever studied the spider is the most
sagacious, aud may be taughta confidence bor-
dering upon affection. although IL seems TO
have been formed by nature for a condition of
constant warfare. It's head and breast are
perfectly mailed, its legs end in claws like
iances to ward off an assaiiant Its vision is
acute. although its ewes are covered with a
transparent horny substance TO protect thom.
and above its mouth II has forceps with which
| TO kill its prey already caught in its net Bat
this species rely chiefly upon their net to en-
| trap the game. and upon which they expend
| their greatest labor and ingenuity. They are
| of great variety and many OF them very poison
| ous-the common black spider of the non-web-
weaving variety more especially with us here.
HOW THE WEB Is sPUN.
mature has furnished the body OF this little
creature with glutinous liquid. which. pro-
ceeding from the annus, it spins into thread
eoarscr or finer, as it chooses 70 contract or di-
late its sphincter. In order 20 fix its thread
when il begins TO weave il emits a small drop
ate h..
by degrees Serves to hold the thread very
firmly. Then as II recedes the thread lengtheDs
aud when the spider has come TO the place
where the other end of the thread should be
fixed, gathering mp with its claws the thread
which would otherwise be too slack. il ID
stretched tightly and fixed in the same man.
ner TO the wall as before. In this manner ID
spins and fixes several threads parallel TO each
| other. which, so TO speak. serve the warp TO
the intended web. 10 form the woof il spins
| in the same manner it's thread transverselv
fixing one end 10 the first thread that was spun
| and which il always the strongest of the whole
| web, and the other 10 the wall. All these
| threads, Being newly spun. arc glutnous and
| therefore stick to each other wherever they
| happen to touch, and in those parts of the web
most exposed TO be torn our natural artist
| strengthens them by doubling the threads
| sometimes six-fold.
THE PARROT AND THE SPIDER
"About year ago that ugly monkey-faced
around the top Of the window poked her head
accidentally through the web. The spider few
| out in rage and made her scream fearfully /
| bathed the part stung with a salty solution,
! which relieved her almost immediately. For a
| long time afterward whenever ANYTHING dis
pleased Poll she would raise q series of screams
and fly to the shelf where she saw me get tho
| bottle containing the solution. She seems now
/ however, to have forgotten about the circum-
stance. The spider went Immediately to work
repairing the breach in her web and in q very
short time it was as good new. The first
victim that fell in her net was a groen-winged
house fly. After IL had become thoroughly on
/ tangled the spider Immediately sailed ont and
| in less than minute wove a new net round its
captive. by which the motion of its wings was
/ stopped, aud when it was fairly hampered in
this manner it was seized and dragged into the
hole.
"0ne day saw a yellow jacket get entangled
and was about TO make fearful havoc with the
web, but the spider rushed out and cut thread
/ after thread from around the jacket until 10
| effected Its release and then went coolly 20
work to repair the damages.
| These insects change their skins every year,
| and If they happen to lose their legs new set
will grow out again. At first this spider was
very wary and few TO its hiding place at the
least approach, but il will now come out to
meet me and even take flies from ont OF my
hand, and seems 10 enjoy my companionship
very much. / intend introducing one of the
common garden spiders among the shrubbery
4 in my window and watch, II possible, its method
4 I'll