The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1893-04-19
what noes the spider Know

In the world of spiders the principle of wo-
mans rights is fully established. The female
spins the web and manages all the domestic ar
rangements while the unfortunate masculine
spiders. small in body and weak in mind, are
only tolerated in the household for while. and
are often mercilessly killed by their better halves
as soon as they become tired of his society. He
is neither trapper. like the female, and is a
poor provider.
The more one studies the habits of that un-
popular but interesting animal. the spider the
more wonderful its structure and habits appear.
It possesses the mysterious faculty which we
call instinct. for want of better name. in the
highest degree. being scarcely excelled by the
waaps and bees. and in the construction of its
webs it evinces the possession of geometrical
knowledge superior to most men. The web of
the spider is secreted by certain glands. as
thick. viscous liquid. and passes into the air
through organs known as spinnets. several of
which are situated on the under side of the ab-
domen. The spinnets are grouped together in
different forms i; each of these are pierced with
holes like the nose of watering pot. from each
of which a stream of the web making fluid flows.
As soon as the fluid reaches the air it hardens at
once. the many streams of fluid meeting to form
single thread. so that fine as the thread may
be- it is really cable composed of many hun
dred still finer fbers. Another curious fact in
regard to the web is that the different spinnerets
produce threads of different kinds. varying in
fneness. strength and elasticity. The spider not
only spins. but weaves. Her claws are miniature
combs of different degrees of fneness. and by
their aid she arranges the threads.
The number of species is very large. and if you
should have location where they can be watch
ed carefully each one will be found to differ from
II - A faru uhaY,
examining their webs under microscope.
discovered one that was apparently twisted into
a cable. 1t was during the lifetime of my old
friend. Edward Russell. and upon showing it to
him. he said it was perfect cable. It was a
mystery to both of Us how it was done. but the
cable was there, and some time afterWard was
able to solve the mystery, for l saw one morning
one of the little creatures dropping down in front
of window. suspended by it's threads. and
whirling round as it descended. and its circular
motion increased rapidly as it neared the bottom
of the window. So you see how perfect is their
knowledge of mechanical methods. At another
time, when resting in the shade of tree. saw
a small spider dropping down from one of the
limbs directly in front of me. This one was
the whirl. occasionally waiting for something to
turn up. Suddenly with rapid motion it drop
ped to the ground. and looking down where it
stopped, saw the larvae of some insect wrigling
in great trouble. The spider was fastening his
cable around the victim, and a moment later the
poor fellow was dangling in the air. As he was
lifted upward there was no more struggling. for
it was quite dead. either lanced or poisoned.
Twice the spider left his victim hanging by the
cable. each time coming down and fastening
fresh rope to his body. finely weaving in going
up. she had no trouble in landing him on the
limb, where lost sight of them altogether.
Here. then. you see that all the wisdom of the
world in nature does not belong to man.
G C.