San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1895-01-18
Written for the LIGHT.
SCIENCE IN SHORT CHAPTERS
(BY REV. N. sHULTZ.)


are poisonous, although they are
not all vicious, but to the contrary,
they may become great pets by
gentle treatment, and various
stories have been told by lone pris-
oners, whose only companions had
been a spider who had not consid-
cred it below her dignity to make
her home inside Of a prison wall.
There is not school boy living
who has not seen how atfectionate-
ly the female takes care Of her
eggs. While still in the egg many
spiders hold them inside OF a spun
ball, which they attach to their
backs; while after they are hatch
ed the young crawl upon the back
OF their mother and are fed by her
like little birds in the nest.
Many a time l have seen an appar-
emily large spider which, by touch.
ing it with a stick, went all to
pieces, so to say, that is, the young,
of which there seemed to be more
than a hundred, scattered in all
directions, leaving the mother
spider her natural size. / have
even seen scorpion with fourteen
young ones attached to her back,
all OF which were about one.third
grown, giving the old one the ap-
pearance OF a giant among her
kind. Spiders have many curious
ways about them and there is no
telling where one might find new
wonders performed by the men,
bers Of the great family arachnida.
1t is most wonderful how many
different kinds Of artificially con-
structed webs there are to be
found from the small corner
web in stable with it's
channel which served as a hid
ing place for the spider, to the
large tangle web which reaches
from branch to branch in a forest,
and woven in he most symmetri-
cal manner. and the little webs,
which in the morning cover the
prairie like sheet, appearing
somewhat like a light hoar frost
in their light touch Of dew, and
the long strings of the gossamer
spider which fly about in the air
to strike your face at all angles
and all times. The gossamer spi.
der is the balloonist of the family.
She spins her long fibre which
is mucn lighter than the air, then
detaches it from the object to
which it adhered while being spun,
crawls back to about the centre
and away she sails on the wings
OF the wind. The bell spider, which
lives in some Of our small lakes
and streams, is very fond Of water +,
but as she does not like to
get wet she spins bell
about the size OF a child's
thimble, inside Of which she
stays and then thimble and all she
descends into the deep. AS soon as
the air has been exhausted she re-
turns to the surface after a fresh
supply. One Of the most curious
nests in the world is that Of the
trap door spider, which has a lid
on top, and whenever the spider
retires she carefully shuts the door.
The whole nest is built with mass
Of web, and those found in various
parts Of Texas average about four
inches in depth and an inch in
diameter. Spiders follow different
methods in securing their prey and
while the greater number of species
make some sort of a web, there
are others, like the tarantula, who
go hunting in night time, seeking
whom they might devour. Others,
like the jumping species, pounce
like cats upon their prey, while the
great bird spiders of the tropics are
always deliberate in their work
and take their ease in doing things
gracefully.
Tie most poisonous spider in
our country is the tarantula,
which however is not very danger
GUS considering that they are so
common in Texas and yet one
rarely hears Of case where a per-
son was struck. Our Texas scor-
pions are small compared to some
of their sisters in the tropics,
while the socalled vinegarone,
which lives under rocks along the
borders OF Mexico, is the last one
OF its kind to be selected for a pet
or a plaything. Whether or not
the vinegarone is deadly, the fact
remains that the ignorant Next
can population stands in holy awe
before the sting Of the black vine
garone.