River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1891-10-22


All such spiders are. of course, sxilifdl
in the manufacture of the vanished
silk. which enables them TO live under
water without injury.
One such spider. called by naturalists
the Arqgronetd from two Greek words
signifying silver and spun, lives in stag
nant water. on the surface of which -
swims about with perfect ease, keep
ing its abdomen inclosed in a little
globe of vanished silk. which shines
like silver: and. being filled with air,
acts a. a life preserver, keeping its
wearer from sinking.
The female of this spider constructs
for itself sort of diving bell. in which
/ IL can live all winter beneath the water.
This diving-bell-an oval-shaped cocoon
of vanished silk. well filed with air.
is anchored securely by nultitudes of
strong but very slender sillSen cables
to the surrounding plants. In il its
maker lies in wait for prey, or deposits
and jealously guards her cocoon of eggs,
or shuts herself up during the winter.
still another spider is a skillful pa
per maker. and DIR. Livingston found
many specimens of it living in central
Africa, where it makes its nests of
small sheets OF thin, gray paper, re-
sembling that of which hornet and
wasps build their nests, pasted so close
" TO the walls of the natives huts as
to almost escape observation.
The balloon-making spider has at
tracted great admiration from the Skin
with which he spins, weaves and in
fates tiny balloon underneath which
it remains in safety, while the breezes
watt it away.
Another little air traveller is able to
make long aerial voyages without the
aid of either wings or balloons 1t is
known as the Gossamer spider. and great
multitudes of them have been fou nd on
ships fully sixty miles from land. The
I Gossamer is only about one-tenth of an
inch in length and of a dusky red color.
Upon first com ing in contact with the
rigging of ship it always seems to be
attached to only single thread, but
/ in few moments is surrounded by q
mesh of floating web, which appears to
/ be produced simply by the entangle-
ment of the one long single thread.
When the Gossamer is ON land and
d WISHES ~ san OAi NhC alA -
/ crawls upon some little eminence, ele-
Yates its abdomen, sends forth a single
/ thread aud Immediately the slightest
/ breath of air bears il away at line on
a level, or nearly so. with the height
| from which it started. Mr.. Charles
I Darwin, who tells Us about this spider.
says that he thought he could perceive
I that before sending forth the floating
/ thread the spider connected its legs to-
/ gether by other delicate threads; but
/ of this he was not quite sure. If this
observation be correct it may be that
/ the delicate threads uniting to the
spiders very light body may form a
sort of parachute aud aid it in its flight.
Another tiny spider while placed on
the top of post shot forth from its
| spinners four or five threads, each
about yard in length These threads
| glittering in the sunshine, looked like
separated and waving rays of light on
which it scared away as If on wings.
Its supply of silk" says Mr.. Darwin,
seemed inexhaustible.
This might probably be said of most
/ spiders. A very keen and accurate OBJ
server has told me that he once traced
what seemed to be single continuous
thread of spiders web extending from
point on the shore of the Hud-
son river near Cold Spring to another
point on the opposite shore near the
West Point landing, at the height of
about yard above the water. My in
formant was in a rowboat at about FIVE
o'clock of very still June morning.
L IL.
thread of web for the whole distance.
This is another fact to prove the i'm
mense productiveness of the little spin
ners in proportion to their own size
I Helen E. Smith, in y. Y. Independent