The Springfield herald., 1900-01-05

A curious species of insect is the
trap-door spider, whose nest consists
of a tube eYcavated in the earth to the
depth of six or eight inches, says the
Philadelphia Inquirer. 1t is always
lined with silk and is closed
with an ingeniously constructed door.
One sort of door closes into the most
like a cork in bottle; another Is as
thin as piece of paper. In all cases
the door opens outward, and when the
nest is placed. as 1t usually is, on
sloping bank. 1t opens outward, SO that
there is no fear of its gaping. The OBJ
tect OF the trap-door is to conceal the
nest, and consequently 1t Is always
made to resemble the general surface
OF the ground. Sometimes, however,
an enemy attempts to open the door.
and then the inmate braces his legs
against the sides of the nest and holds
as fast as possible. Still other spiders
have inner doors besides outer, so that
II their first defense is carried they
may have another behind which to
retreat. more curious still is the in
genuity OF the branch trap-door; that
is to say. door that opens from the
main tunnel of the nest into a side
branch. which the spider knows, of
course. but there is nothing to dis
tinguish it from any other part of the
main nest. So, then. II an enemy
should effect an entrance, the lawful
occupants of the nest can quietly slip
into the side branch, close the door,
and there remain in security. while the
intruder wonders what has become of
her. If all these wonderful things are
done by instinct. have we any proof
whatever of individual intelligence
among spiders? Most assuredly. II
we remember that intelligence is
proved whenever We observe a mani
fest application of means appropriate
to the accomplishment of particular
ends. 1t is hardly possible to deny that
there is some evidence Of the intelli-
gence OF spiders. Many instances have
occurred more or less like the follow
ing: "One of my friends was accus
toned to grant shelter to number of
garden spiders under vacant veranda
and to watch their habits. One day a
sharp storm broke out, and the wind
ragged SO furiously through the garden
that the spiders suffered damage from
1t, although sheltered by the veranda.
The mainyards of one of these webs,
as the sailors would call them, were
broken so that the web was blown
hither and thither, like a slack sail in
storm. The spider made no fresh
threads. but tried to help itself In
another way. 1t let Itself down to the
ground by thread, and crawled to
place where lay some splintered pieces
of wooden fence, thrown down by the
storm. 1t fastened thread to one of
the bits Of wood, turned back with 1t
and hung 1t with strong thread to
the lower part of the nest, about fve
feet from the ground. The perform
ance was a wonderful one, for the
weight of wood suficed to keep the
nest tolerably firm, while 1t was yet
light enough to yield to the wind, and
SO prevent injury. The piece of wood
was about two and one-half inches long
and as thick as goose quill On the
following day careless servant
knocked her head against the wood and
1t fell down. But in the course OF
few hours the spider mended her web,
broke the supporting thread in two,
and let the wood fall to the ground"