Middletown transcript., 1894-08-18
ABOUT SPIDERS.
A few Interesting Facts About This
Perseyerfng Insect.
BY mrs. L1zzrx DE AnMosD.

" p
Mary is swinging in the hammock
under the apple tree, absorbed in an
entertaining book; she happens to
glance upward, and there, almost
touching her face, lisa spider banging
| by its slender thread. With scream
of terror, she darts away, as if some
wild beast were persuing her, instead
of poor harmless insect, who PERHAPS
on his part wonders what that terrible
giantess is making such noise about,
and why she has disturbed bis medita-
tions in such an uncalled-for manner.
Let US have little chat about this
persevering creature and l think We
shall wish to examine it more closely.
1t is said that the spider was so
named, on account Of the activity with
which it spied out and destroyed the
the Dor beetle (Spy-Dor).* Il has
eight legs, and feels with it's feet as
with its lower jaws. The reason why
its feet are SO many, is that its weight
may be evenly distributed, and not
bear to heavily on any point of its web.
As general thing its bite is scarcely
more poisonous than Mosquito.
The female spider is always larger
than the male, and, if accounts be
true, is of a rather peppery disposition.
When the husband becomes obstinate
and will not obey orders, the loving
wife eats him up, to get rid of him,
and seeks more obedient spouse.
Spiders are met with in the forests
of Java, whose webs are so strong that
it requires knife to cut through
them. A Texas spider weaves
a balloon four feet long and two
feet wide, which she fastens to
a tree by single thread, then
marches on board with her little ones
cuts the thread and away goes the tir,
ship to some far distant point ON the |
prairie. The Tarantula of the South
ern States is so called from Taranta in
Italy where its kind abounds; it spins
no web, but builds an affair resembling
a log cabin; it can spring quite dis
tance, and is very repulsive looking
creature.
Spiders are exceedingly fond of |
music. A young artist for a short
time took up his abode in an old
French chateau, whose sole inmates
were spiders and mice. He was quite
performer on the flute, and as the
sweet strains filed the house. one by
one these odd creatures would appear
and seem to enjoy the concert; at last
his audience became so annoying that
he was obbliged to purchase a cat
and keep it in sort of cage; then
when the visitors became too familiar
Mistress Puss was called to the rescue
and the surplus population thinned
out in a way that repelled further ad-
vances.
Field spiders are said to be perfectly
harmless, but 1 beg leave to contra
dict that statement, as in my youthful
days, one of those gorgeous black and
yellow insects, whose webs are so Of
ten found On blackberry bushes, at
tackled me with such malicious intent
that for two weeks my right hand re-
sembled an enormous apple dumpling
in size, and on account of sundry ill
feeling internally, the world and its
surroundings wore a blue aspect for
the same space of time.
Spiders are extremely perseyering,
and if you should partially destroy
their web, you would be astonished to
see the number of times they will pa
tiently repair the damage. The in
sect world is teeming with interest to
those who have the time to make the
of its inhabitants, and
many lesson of patience, persever-
ence and industry might we learn even
from spiders that would prove of bene-
ct to us in our every day lives.-
County Gentleman. Purely fancy).
/