Semi=weekly graphic., 1897-07-31
STREET or SPIDERS.
CURIOUS DISCOVERIES MADE IN A
 FLORIDA THlcKET.

I.nlnet.ss Webs u'oren by Yellow spiders.
 4 aysterioua Disappearance ExplAinsd.
 i BTuitdke Crab Tricks of Nature Pre-
 feet inc pefanseless.
 Once. in attempting to force my way through the thick bay cedar underbrush of one of the smaller and outer keys of the Florida reef l suddenly broke into aa opening which had the appearance nf n ifnrraw street or trail, The brush was six or eight feet in height and re- markedly thick, and the heat was intel erabe The branches and leaves which were interlaced formed perfect net work and gave shelter to innumerabla crabs. which had taken possession of old birds nests, while under foot the eggs and newly matched terms almost covered tba ground.
 Once in tbe opening or street it was found to he about seven feet across, winding away out of sight, hut my way was blocked by several curious obsta- cles-a succession of webs stretched vertically across the pathway at inter- yals of five CT six feet. They were of extraordinary strength and were thrown out aud poised iu marvellous manner In the center of each of these silken bar rieHs elang huge yellow spider, go ug. ly aud conspicuous that stopped be- fore the first doubting the evidence of my eyes, and as l looked the first yell low spider of the series disappeared. There was no doubt about it. At first so striking and gaudy, it slowly faded away, and through the web 1 could see other yellow spiders beyond, suggest ing hat it was no illusion.
 While I stood wondering in the hot san the spider solved the mystery by appearing again, first dimly, then like many spiders quivering i'll the strong light, finally resolving itself into one huge yellow fellow that moved like A pendulum to and fro and then stopped. touched 1t gently with a switch held, whereupon it deliberately began to swing its huge body, imparting to the entire web a Yibrat0ry motion which increased in Tapidity until the body of the spider began to grow fainter and in few moments became invisible. Is was all very simple when understood. The spider when alarmed began to swing, gradually increasing the motion untll it disappeared or could not be fol- lowed by ihe eye. Thinking the csss might be exceptional, l again touched the spider and again 1t literally swung itself cut Of sight
 Crawling beneath the web, I con- fronted the next spider, which also wss yellow or saffron in color, with black, velYetlile markings hanging in the sun like 2 great topaz, its web dotted with the remains of many feasts-emp- ty skeletons of insects, bits of pearly figh scales perhaps dropped by some pass ing bind, a delicate feather and mot Icy array Of flies aud other insect folk At HIst the spider paid me seant atten- ton, then l saw slight eonvulBiTe movement of is legs IS it imparted the first long swing lo its hammoekliks weB that pat this wonderful life saving device, for this il was, in motion. It was the spider defense and protection from enemies.
 Certain birds undoubtedly preyed upon the spiders, and this faculty of mysteriously disappearing had on more than one occasion served it well. 1 eonId easily imagine the astonishmenb of the bird when da1ting down to seize iAe plump and showy spider to find that il had slipped away.
 Yhero Waa much i'll this street of yell low spiders to distract the mind from the intense heat that poured down from the almost vertical sun In the middle of the path beyond turn, grew & clump of cactus, with here and there ripe fruit rich ill the purple of full ma turity-a brilliant contrast to the green leaves. As I stood watching the hermit crabs dropping from the bushes and sculTging away over the sand l thought saw a ripe frnit of the cactus move i; then, to my amazement it passed di. rectly cut of sight, not after the fash ion of the spiders, but by slipping around one eff Che big leaves. Ialmost expected to see the others follow it, hut nothing of the kind occurred. l walked along and placed myself in position to sec behind the broad, fiat, pear shaped leaf There was the purple object, now nov ing cautiously around with the evident intention of keeping itself out of sight and then l saw that 1t was a crab, crab with purple back the exact tint of the ffua. while ts general shape, when the ss were tucked up beneath the body l. ade the crab mimic of the cactus fruit q protective resemblance so perfect that the crab Was safe from sharp eyed e4emies, and should have passed it ly- had it remained quiet, but the phmomenn of moving fruit at tracted my attention and led to it's dis coyery,
 For some distance l followed this street of spiders. creeping beneath the webs when l could, and everywhere these tricks of nature to protect the de. fenseless were apparent The eggs of the guils simulated the sand ill color; the llttlo mantis, which elung to the big cedar, was the exact tint of the leaves and deiied detection until scci. dentally brushed off Over all life in the secluded spot nature had thrown her protecting mantle of mimiory.- New York Post
 Too Crude.
 Medical Eaitor-This will never do. Jones 4ou write here of "a pen 1ip- ped ln gall. We've given up gall.