The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-06-13
SILK FROM SPIDERS WEBS.
MANUFACTURERs' UNION OF ENG
LAND AWARD a FRENCH CHEMIST.

1 1FOuuceS n silky Fabric SO Fine
That CIeoDatra's Robe Might Have
Been Made of It-InventOrs Have
| Worked Years on 1t.
London, June 4.-The Manufacturers
| Union Of England has for the last two
| years had a standing offer of Il, 900
sterling to the scientist who would invent
use for the web of the common spider.
| 1t was obvious to those who experiment
ed with the web that there was tissue of
| silk contained in it's fllmy threads, but
| how to get hold of them In any way that
| could be of use in manufacturing silk fab
rio was the problem. That problem has
now been solved by M. Cachot, French
chemist who claims the reward.
| The silk worm works in a different way
| from the spider. 1t is not poisonous and is
| peaceful in its nature and habits The silk
worm is easily imprisoned and does as
| well in confinement as in the natural state.
| Silk worms thrive in a paper box or a
bureau drawer; and if fed mulberry leaves
| ask nothing better or further in the ma
| ture of diet They live for years. giving
| out their cocoons OF valuable silk threads
| to any one who will take them, and con-
stantly increasing in number. for they
breed fast.
The common spider on the other hand.
| is wild animal. 1t is warlike in its ma
| ture and fierce In it's attacks It's short
mandibles are provided with a sharp claw
| like end, through which venom flows and
| by which it gives out sharp, deadly stingS
when attacked. Spiders, too are carniy-
| orous, and demand insects for their diet
and water. They eat every species of ami
malculae, and will not live without live
food.
Nevertheless, such are the possibilities
of the spider web that scientists have
worked constantly at the fibre to secure it
M. Cachot recently invited a COMPANY
OF manufacturers to his laboratory to in
spect the workings Of the spider in its
web, as arranged by him to give out
a network of thread for use in making
fabric.
When they arrived they were taken into
a room lighted in the dimmest way. When
their eyes grew accustomed to the light
| they saw In the corner of the room run
ming from the floor to the ceiling, a Queer
arrangement of bobbins worked by a DIV
namo. They turned noiselessly and with
| rapidly, constantly winding a thread and
becoming thicker with the revolutions. At
! the other side of the room sat an operator
turning on and off the power at will.
Looking further up on the wall they saw
great quantity of large spiders, closely
| resembling the Madagascar spiders ,Th ~
mad long mandibles and an immense abdo-
men, from the rear end of which issues
| threads. AS the threads came from them
|
long strands of the unbroken thread.
When they had done expressing their
surprise at the strange sight, NJ Cachot
explained it all to them.
The web of the spider, it seems. is NOT
quite as strong as the web of the silk
worm. The spider, moreover, does not Law
It's eggs in as deep a cocoon as the silk
worm, nor does it undergo the metamor-
| phosis of the worm. Therefore il was i'm
possible to secure the big thready cocoons.
as in the case of the silk worm nor
could the thread be gathered in any way
suitable LOT winding. When made into a
WEB IT became hopelessly tangled ana unt1t
for use.
| M. Cachot, therefore, thought of a way
OF making machine that would take the
| web from the spider as he spun it. Tiny
bobbins were fitted with running gear.
into which the web was first caught. At
ter one fastening 1t possessed sufficient
! strength to withstand any Dull that the
spider might put upon it.
The nature Of the insect is such that no
matter how often it is robbed of it's thread.
1t keeps on spinning a new web and is a
source OF constant supply to any machine
that can wind 1t off.
The color OF the web when first spun Is
a pale gray, almost the color of the at
mosphere, and is the best known tint for
any raw material to have, as 1t takes COL
| oring matter readily.
The common house spider answers the
same purpose as the Madagascar spider,
but for practical working the larger spider
is preferred, as its thread Is larger and the
work OF keeping 1t captive is no greater.
In catching the thread from the insect
1t is found that the best place is a wooden
wall, dark and damp enough for molsten-
ing the thread. The spider spins best
where water drops into his web and is
most prolific in webbing where there are
loose rafters and leaky spots in roof or
| ceiling.
bobbin as large as big peanut is not
too much for a spider to spin in a week
and, as there Is no cost beyond that OF the
machinery, it Is paying investment.
The only food required is diet Of In
! sects, house flies and small living things
Of all sorts These the spider catches, and
while trying to imprison his prey sends
out his most valuable webbing When
the spider catches fly he spins a net
round and round him. It is very strong
and is turned off quickly. The fly is soon
ensnared, ana then the spider punctures
him with his venom. In NJ Cachots in
vention, the spider is allowed one or two
turns around the fly, then the webbing is
caught with delicate hook and attached
10 the bobbin, which quickly winds Il.
The female spider lays eggs that are pro
tected by cocoon of thread. This COG
coon, IL Is found, can be wound easily
from the spiders that are kept In a
cultivated state. II smooth corners are
procured for the insect IL will wind a COO
coon so even that the thread can be read
lily wound from It,
For experimental purposes a little Of the
spider web was made into cloth. n
was found to give fabric very silky to
the touch and as fine as Oriental silk
II may be that the delicate silks of the an
clients was made from the web OF the gpl-
der for IL has never since been duplicated
The SILK robes which Cleopatra easily
pulled through an earring might have
been made from the spiders web.
AZ all events II is worth an experiment.