The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-05-16
STUDIES OF THE SPIDER.
Builders, Engineers and WeaVers,
Hunters and MatRe maticians.

Hunters and MatRematicians.
New York Times.
If little Miss Muffett, who sat on her
tuffit, had heard the address of r. l.. Dit
mars before the New York chronological
Society on Spiders and Their Habits it
is possible she would not have been in
quite so great a hurry to jump up and run
away as the nursery rhymes say she was.
Mr.. Ditmars took the defensive for the
spider family and succeeded in proving for
it an excellent general character, besides
giving interesting details concerning its
habits, personal characteristics and
methods.
The family's scientific name is Arachnida
and Mr.. Ditmars divides the family into
two general branches, the ~sedentary and
the wandering. The sedentary is the arts
tocratic and capitalistic element and is
generally cOmplimented in Holy Writ by
the wise man because she 'taketh hold
with her hands and is in Kings houses
Solomon evidently knowing the scientific
fact that the principle of female sovereign
ty prevails universally among the Arach-
nida. The wandering element is tramp
like; marauding and irregular in its habits,
having no nests or fixed abodes, spending
it's time in hunting at random, with It's
living chiefly a matter of chance. 1t de-
ponds upon it's ability to creep silently upon
a fly or other small insect, which is look
ing the other way or busy or temporarily
absent-minded. Sometimes, however, the
wanderer makes pigmy minicry of the lion
or tiger by chasing down creeping things
or by lying in wait and reaching prey by
long leaps.
Mr.. Ditmars did not talk much of the
wandering branch, giving most OF his time
to the builders and settlers of snares VINO
stay at home and do business regularly.
These are classified according to the shapes
and styles of their snares-the makers of
orb webs, net webs, tube webs, and sllken
cylinders fitted to holes in the ground eX-
caVated by the spider itself,
After a brief word drawing OF the Ia
miiar outlines of the spider. the speaker
began to tell of the facts learned through
the microscope, dissections, and closer OBJ
servation than the people who are not las
cinated by bugs usually make. From two
to eight eyes constitute the optical equip
ment of the spider. The fangs, as was
demonstrated by pictures enlarged from
life. are exact reproductions in miniature
of those of the rattlesnake, and do their
work in much the same way, being folded
closely when not In use, but always ready
for instant erection, followed, and con-
nected at their basis with poison SacS. me
openings for the election OF the poison are,
however, proportionately smaller than those
in the fangs of a serpent, and Mr.. DltmarS
is skeptical about serious injury being done
to. a healthy human being or any. large am
NAL by the minute quantity of poison a
spider can throw into the wound 1t makes,
excepting, of course, the huge bird
spiders of the tropics. The North Amerl-
can species are loaded, he thinks, strictly
for insects.
The discussion which followed the add
dress was participated in by several mem
bers of the society, and ELECTED the fact
that the poison of the spider has never
been analysed because nobody has ever
hoo n h1n To an "a GnpnlmQn M fl
has been seen, however, and is known to be
yellowish, whereas the poison distilled by
the bee is pure white. tn spider poison
is supposed to be acid in it's nature and
generally like the bees, but rather more
powerful. while the serpents is albuminous.
One member, however, thought 1t more
likely that the spider poison is, like that of
some serpents, albuminous, with, an acid
reaction. 1t was further, stated mat some
spiders are supposed to have poison which
they are capable of eXuding from every
part of their bodies.
The microscope shows that each rope the
spider spins to make the orb web contains
about seven hundred strands, exuded as a
thin, oily fluid from inconceivably minute
glands and hardening instantly on reach
ing the air. The process of weaving these
ropes into the geometric form familiar to
everybody was described at length. Inc
web is not only a snare, but an elaborate
and complicated system of telegraph wires,
each of which sends to the center vibra-
tions indicating the general character and
weight of any object touching It,, and dl-
reefs the attention of the owner instantly
to the point of interest.
The web is always started with a single
line. fastened to the extreme point it is to
connect with and carried to the opposite
extreme. Air currents are cunnlngly used
to carry lines where the spider cannot go.
Wherever the line touches, 1t sticks. Then
it is drawn taut and makes Il new basis of
operations. Elaborate systems OF guy ropes
and braces are established. When the scat
folding is completed so that the spider may
move about over the area of the web, the
real work of spinning is begun, and the
beautifully ra6i1tinP figure is SWIFTLY and
surely wrought Then the Scattold, or foun-
dation ropes, are cut away, for the spider
is a neat workman and has regard for
symmetry and surroundings; These rough
ropes, as they may be called, are carefully
rolled into wads and thrown out over the
edges of the web as if the worker was de-
termined that the secret of the craft should
not be discovered, and that nobody who
studied the web should ever be able TO see
where or by what means II was started or
finished.
Many spiders use their rope-making pow
stab and poison their victim, but tie it;
wing and leg, rapidly throwing over it coil
after coil of sticky ligament which soon
not only make it helpless, but convert it
into a mummy, thoroughly wrapped, and
not only easy to carry, but put up for pres
e%rvation should the spider not desire an i'm
mediate meal. The Arachnida thus pro-
vides her own cold storage.
"A preserved specimen OF the pro spider
enough to snare small birds, was shown
by Mr.. Ditmars and was inspected with the
deepest interest Dy the IuSLlDGlS VI III
society. Even the women seemed to forget
the LONELINESS of the creature in their
scientific enthusiasm, and looked at It's
fangs, claws, and other aggressive ma
chinery as if they were glad of the oppor-
tunity. This spiders body is about two
and a half inches long, and death does not
much diminish the ferocity of its appear
ance.
Having proven that the spider, as consid-
cred by a fly, for instance, has the strength,
sWiftnesS and ferocity of the tiger and the
subtlety and deadly bite of the serpent, be-
sides being a living rope factory, builder
and owner of telegraph systems and APP
parently a geonetrician, Mr.. D1lmars quot
ed from McCook. one of the greatest au-
thorities on the subject, the statement that
the spider is a good friend to the human
race and one of the most useful OF the in
vertebrate philanthropists, making it posi-
the world where it would be driven out by
insects but for the services of the Arach-
Ida. The enormous natural increase of in
sect life everywhere, he said, may be
Judged from its constant existence, not
outstanding the foes that prey upon 1t con-
tinually. The enormous destruction of this
life may be understood by considering the
vast number of spiders and the fact that
the existence of each of them is assurance
Of a certain amount of natural prey de-
stroyed and consumed.
The power of the spiders endurance with
out food, however, Mr.. Dltmars salds Is
very great. 1t has never been fully tested,
but there is an accumulation or rat upon
the interior of the abdomen which can sus-
tain life a long time. One specimen had
been known TO live seven months without
possibility of food.
In reply to questions Mr.. Ditmars said
he. had found ~ nEuafiRnl GXn0rln1Anf that