St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1891-06-06
FACTS ABOUT INSECTS.
CURIOUS THINGS CONCERNING
COMMONEST BUGS.
Everything that Crawls or Flies Seems to
Have More Uses than Ordinary
People suspect-silk from
Spiders Webs.

stopped In great perplexity. unable to
cross, yet unwilling to return. A tor
y toise, seeing his situation and moved
with compassion, took him on his
back as a passenger and was swimming
toward the opposite shore when he
heard q noise upon his shell as of
something striking him. He called
out to know what 1t was and the I'M
grateful scorpion answered: ut is
only the motion of my sting; I know it
cannot iniure you; but it is habit !
cannot relinquish."
Indeed" replied the tortoise
Then I can not do better than free so
bad creature from his evil DISPOSE
ton and secure the good from his
malevolence." Saying which he dived
under the water and the scorpion was
| drowned.
1t is stated in the mythology Of India
that an immense spider was the origin
Of the universe and the first cause of
all things. Drawing the material
from its own bowels it wove the web of
creation. Sitting in the center of its
|
every part, until at length when, it
las pleased itself sufficiently in or
dering and contemplating its perfec-
ton, 1t will draw all the threads it has
spun out again into itself, and, when
they have been absorbed. everything
will have vanished into nothing.
In the year 1909 it was discovered
that new and very beautiful kind Of
silk could be made from the webs of
certain species of spiders. The threads
were found to be easily separated,
carded. and spun, affording a much
worm and equally susceptible of dye
| ing. Stockings and gloves were made
from this material, naturally of a
beautiful gray color, and great ex-
| pectations of the usefulness of the in
| vention were entertained. At the be-
ginning a difficulty was found in the
fact that it would require 663, 522
| spiders to furnish one pound of the
thread, and it was declared impossible
to provide SO many of the creatures
with flies, their natural food. This
obstacle was soon removed by finding
that they would subsist very well upon
chopped earth-worms and the roots of
feathers; but an insurmountable
obstacle arose from their unsocial in
clinations. inasmuch as when many
were put together they soon began to
quarrel, the strongest devouring the
weakest until of several hundred in a
box but three Or four remained alive
after a few days. Obviously it was
impossible to keep and feed each one
separately. Spiders are considered
dainty for eating by many peoples.
Concerning the origin of the bed
bug there is much dispute. For a
long time it was declared that the
creature was introduced into Europe
in timber brought from America, but
this is doubtless untrue. At the pres
ent time the bedbug is sometimes
given by country people in Ohio as a
cure for ague.
Every one is familiar by hearsay
with the cochineal insects which fur
nish the dyer with his most highly
valued material. They are found on
kind of fig, and are secured by shaking
the trees, beneath which sheets are
spread. The cosmetic known as
rouge is a preparation of cochineal
Not less widely used, and for similar
purposes, is the ''lac' insect of India
which is likewise a tree parasite
These little animals are employed in
the manufacture of varnishes,
japanned ware, sealing-wax, beads,
rings, bracelets, necklaces, water
proof hats, and many other things
Mixed with fine sand they are made
into grindstones, and, added to lamp
black dissolved in water. they COM
pose an ink Of much value. They are
also used rs a substitute for cochineal
for dyeing.
A very curious kind of cloth has
been manufactured by using for the
purpose the worms which are the
Larvae of the so-cailed "clothes- MOTH
An ingenious Bavarian invented way
of causing such worms to work on a
paper model suspended from the cell
ing of a room. To this model he
could give any form and dimensions
he chose, and he was thus enabled to
obtain not only square shawls, but
actually IL complete woman's dress.
with sleeves, though without seams.
Two lar;'ao can weave one squar inch I
of cloth, which exceeds in fineness
the lightcst gauze. 1t has been worn
by queens.
The first silk dresses worn by the
ladies of ancient Rome were from the
island of Cos, and of them Pliny said |
that while they covered woman
they at tho same time revealed her
charms. In fact, they were SO fine as
to be transparent and were sometimes
dyed purple and enriched with stripes
of gold. For ages silk was scarce
article among the Romans and so high
ly priced as to be worth many times
its weight in gold. The Emperor
Aurelian, who died in the year 125 of
the Christian era, refused his empress
u silk dress because it was so expen-
siye.
Bees were not original natives of
this country. They were brought to
Boston first from England. and were
carried over the Allegha-
ny mountains by a hurricane. For
long time they were known to the In
dians by the name of English flies
and were loo6ed upon as the harbinger
of the white man.
A superstition obtains among the
cowboys that if COW be lost its where
abouts may be learned by inquiring of
the daddy longlegs, which points out
the direction Of the lost animal with
one of its forelegs. The spiderweb
fabric has been carried so nearly to