St. Landry democrat., 1890-06-28
FACTS ABOUT SPIDERS.

s"The spider, you know, is not p INSECT.
1t belongs to one class in group OF crea-
lures called 'arthropods,' which ncluoes
three other classes also-the crustaceans,
such as crabs and HOLSTERS. the insect
proper and the myriapods or centlpeoes.
The spiders class, known as the ''arach-
nide,' is divided into eight orders.
Goodness me !" exclaimed the ST. Louis
Globe Democrat writer, who was ALREADY
becoming a trife confused.
eight ORDERS" repeated DR.. George
Marx of the chronological bureau of the
Department of Agriculture, who owns the
finest collection of spiders in this country.
s"The lowest order of the class is found in
the spentastoma,' worm-like creature
that has been discovered in the eye of
rattlesnake, the liver of negro and the
intestines of dog. Next in the scale OF
DEVELOPMENT come the mites and ticks
which are not so essentially blood sucking
creatures as is popularity supposed; they
live on the juices of plants ordinarily, ana
it is the exceptional one that ever gets an
opportunity for TASTE of gore. linen
follow the false scorpions, minute and
without tails, which live 10 mold and de-
cavinp books. Above them by step is
the order of sgalleodes,' 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' sre next, and
then the spider, after which come the
spedipalpi,' that have foreclaws to clutch
with. Here is pedipalpus in this bottle !;
YOU see it is horrible looking lobster. like
animal, most unpleasant to meet anywhere
and quite six inches long. 1t is called the
mule killer or 'nigger Killer in the South,
and though commonly thought to be very
poisonous it is in reality very harmless
The only weapons it has are glands that
emit vinegary odor so penetrating that
if YOU hold it your hand will smell OF VIM
egar for half day afterward.
s.All spiders are poisonous; that IS 70
say, they secrete in their mand1bles a
nowerfui venom, which is elected through
a little hole in the extremity OF the man
dihle when the bite is inflicted. The most
DANGEROUS Of all spiders, so far as l am
aware. is the so-called black widow,
which has a red dot on the under side, and
ia very generally feared. TO this variety
belongs the eel bratsd 'katipo,' which the
New Zsalauders dread SO much. 1t is
yery 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 satisfac-
torily proven by the exhibition of the dead
nerson. the spider and the bite; therefore,
there is still good deal of room fol
doubt Spiders usually will run away
from human being; but one family,
known as the jumping spider Is very
appres sive. You have often seen the
i1mpipg 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 a
the finger and bite. Otts Lugger, formerly
of the Department of Agriculture, ha:
placed on record the case of his little girl
who was bitten by an 'attus, as this spide
ia called. She Immediately went lntt
spasms and was quite alarmingly ill. Th'
most striking symptom of severe spide
bite is rigiditY like that OF tetan7s o
1ockjaw."
s.How is spider constructed p
.eThe spider is distinguished from in
sects by very important point OF ssruc
ture. The insects have head, chest
and an abdomen, but the spider has n
head at ali, scientifically. speaking. Il
other words, the spiders head and ches
ara in one piece. The animal is covere'
with horny shell and is soft.inside; it has
heart. liver, nerves, brain, in,estines
arteries, veins and eight eyes. Also
possesses eight legs or two more than in
sects have. Ninety-fve of every hundre
spiders that you find in webs are females
the males are only about one-twentieth Q
the size of the females anyway, and tn
only object of their existence seems to b
the continuation of their species in th
distaff line. They do nothing in tn
world but loaf after coming of age, appea
to eat nothing at all, and soon die. Will
they are growing up they act exactly hk
female spiders. The female hat th
end of her posterior extremity an elaborat
spinning apparatus. Six external spin
ming organs there are, tubular in shape
into which open from ten to four hundre
spinning glands, according to the variety..t
spider. Each gland, all operating togethe
spins separate thread, and the spinnt
manipulates the threats by holding the
between the s.teeth" of her comb-lil
claws. The poorly equipped spinner,
to glands, with only few threads at h.
command, walks along with thread a
ways In her grasp, to catch herself by
she tumbles, and captures her prey
jumping at it. But the good spinn
trusts to the web she has built SO artist
ally, and simply lies in wait for victims
tumble into her trap"
ssDoes not the manner of building Il
web exhibit remarkable instinct p
swell, should say SO. The term il
stinct. however, means nothing; 1t
merely vulgar name for what is in res
ity inherited experience. A spider kno,
how to construct web by reason of t
fact that the art has been gradually q
ouired through the observation and g
pertinent of thousands of generations
her ancestors. Weaving or spinning 81
ders make three kinds of web. The Fl
and most perfect sort is the geometri
web. the second consists of lot of lot
interviewer meshes of all shapes and siz
the third kind is best described by
name, sheet or blanket, and has Lit
tube shaped attachment into which
gpider may retire and live In securi
The most important thing in which
spider shows her intelligence is in getti
the FIRST line that is to start her web fr
one point to another high in the air. 81
pose that she is seated on twig hfts
feet from the ground and desires TO sc
thread across from that tTig to the braL
of another twie twelve feet away, how
she going to do it? I'll tell you. s
knows how the wind is blowing and tai
notice of its force. When the breeze il
suits her purpose as to direction Z
strength, she raises her abdomen as b
as POSSIBLE and eniits single tire
which Is taken by the current of air q
doated of until IT catches where II is