The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-01-10

common wasp, seems to live for, no other pur:
pose than to discover. assail. kill. and drag ntf
the tarantula. From morning until night.
through the heat OF midday and sometimes by
the light of the moon. the wRsps seek their prey.
When they have. found a tarantula they attack
y and sting Il to death; Sometimes a
resist. and occasionally beats back its foe.
l once witnessed an encounter between
q huge old female tarantula that had caught
and q wasp. Seeing the wasp flying about in
the yard, put the tarantula where | expected
she would be seen by the wasp. Presently II
attacked her. They rolled together on the
ground In desperate conflict: The wasp was
evidently us ny iis sting. and she was doing her
best. suddenly the wasp extricated itself md
painfully flew away; II did. not return. The
tarantula was wounded and died. But generally
the wasp Is victorious, succeeding easily in sting
Ing Its antagonist to death. 1t then laboriOusly
drags the tarantnla away to its nest in the
ground In sOme retired and protected spot. to hc
used us, food by the young wasps. IL has been
claimed that when the wasp thus rtings the
This has seemed to ms to be- q mistake. ! have
exami led the bodies of many tarantulast that |
undoubtedly dead. A man could no more live
after having received n half dozen sword
thrusts Ia his body thnn the tarantula could
for time and again the wasp uierces the body of
It's, victim with Its terrible sting. am inclined
70 believe that The fluid injected intot the body OF
the tarantula by the wasp Is of an anti-eptic
quality. preserving, indefinitely FOR food the
fesh and Juices OF the animal.
houses, but never without creating alarm. II
seen. When they encounter n tree. u wall. or n
fence upon their peregrinations they are apt TO
20 to climbing. ] have known them not to
hesitate when they have found their route
stopped by the brick wall OF n house, but have
seen them ascend It's surface for many feet.
This Will account for their being found not In
They climb until they come to IL window. and
then walk right In. They cling even to surfaces
s0tT5psrat'nsly smooth; one night my Wife
paper that she had left, after reading II. lying
In the corner OF the room close to the window.
and she thought 1t was u tarantuln. told her
IL was nothing-only II bug or beetle of some
Kind. one OF the many with which the summer
nights nre peoplcd. In about an hour my ntten-
ton was directed to dark object spread out
upon the ceiling. lust over the baby's cradle. 1t
was the tarantula, that had come IN Mt the win
dow. crnwled up the interior wall. anu was now
rcposing IN that pfccarious situation.
Sometimes ~ the early summer months. after
my imagination mas been wholly taken possess
sion Of bv them, and have lived In II world Of
tarantulas. One magical moonlight ni:ht, lying
upon the bed with my eyes closed. but Wide
awake. ] seemed to realize that n monstrous
tarantula was crawling over the window.silIinto
the room. felt III Anew II; no experience was
ever more actual or real. got up Immediately.
and there. sure enough. on the very spot OF NY
lie tns'V lnfe Insf S S"a I aT,"' Now s"V w i"oT sneTe any nv
telcpathy In that experienceI Nevertheless
persons are rarely, bitten by taran,ulas.
dangerous. One morning many years ago | saw
a procession Of tarantulas. ten or u dozen in
number. travelling along the road. ! could nc.
count for their moving all In the same direction
by the fact that they habitually crawl away
from the sun. whose beams drive them in an
opposite direction. II was suggested. however.
that rs they were on the road to Austin. and not
far from that city, they might be going to
see the Governor. A gentleman living IN west
ein Texas told me a~fterward that he had once
witnessed n similar procession of tarantulas.
The centiDede. perhaps the most frightful
and one Of the most dangerous of the whole
malignant brood OF creatures vile, il among the
natural resources OF Texas. Centipedes are not
everywhere abundant. | have seen them In
infest the bark OF fallen trees. the rocks, and
frequently houses. especially log houses. barns,
&c. They grow TO the length Of eight or nine
inches. Their bodies are cor posed Of about
points; The head is provided with a pair Of
formidable nincers or mandibles. Interfere
with them and they exhibit "A furious tenn
per. In fact, | have thought them capable
Of a degree OF rage surprising anything that
] have ever seen In man or beast. The
tiGer's wrath may be n vaster thing, hut II is
not so intense rs that into when the centipcdc
may be excited. While hunting In the woods
one day late In the fnll, and just after having
shot a rabbit. ! came. npon IA .centipedc and
began to play with It,. Idly plucking OF a por-
tion OF the rabbit fur | dropped IL on the cent?
pede. II was mad before. but now it's fury was
complete. The contact Of the fur threw II into
the most abominablc paroxysms. 1t rolled and
agoni2ed In the dust. lighting and raging when
ever IL felt tho fur of the rabbit.
Yet these incarnate maledictionS are no re-
straint upon tho mighty growth Of the ~civiliza-
tiOn that. since Hous'onis victory at San ia
cinto. has taken hold upon Texas. Singing the
foot OF human progress. they perish in their
nests. Not dragons, nor Gorgeous, nor CHI
meras can stay this Angln-Saxon march OF
ours, whose Influence and example arc already
stirring into active rivalry and emulation tho
passionate, wonderful realm Of the Montezu-
mas. JouS SMITH,