Evening journal., 1904-10-22
THE G5IDEN SPIDER. jlE
HOW TIE elLDE0 TYRANT GATHERS
IN THE cRAssHoPPERS.

it, Prey With n Lesso-Onc Species
That Makes Balloons, and Another
That Builds DfvinE Bells.
A gilded tyrant, with velvety black
markings, is the huge golden spider
sitting IN her house woven Of sillSen
meshes. Her weaving, too, Is marvel
ously strong. and the six guy ropes
that support her swinging habitation
some FIVE feet long And what may
Nine Spider be watching for? All,
gay green grasshopper, that with more
athletic action than wisdom, springs
right into the very raidst Of Nine.
Spiders net And she had been on
the alert FOR just sush victim. The
web swings TO aud fro with such VIC
lcnce that one would expect il TO be
torn TO shreds. But no. before the
stupid grasshopper can possibly kick
himself loose, and, Notwithstanding his
struggles have torn a large rent in the
web, he finds himself incased IN a silk
en- shroud, deftly woven by his enemy,
aud IN this he swings helplessly. Then
Nine Spider comes down her zigzag
stairway and sizes up her catch, may
be gives him a little nipping bite and
then leaves him TO his fate until such
time as she wishes to serve him up
Tor the family dinner.
There are many OF these great golden
spiders in thickets. All Of them look
sleek and well fed. There Is an Amer
lean spider which haunts evergreen
trees and catches its prey by means Of
q lasso. The web Of this spider is trl-
angular in form. consisting Of four
longitudinal lines and large number
OF cross fbers connecting them. Two
corners OF the triangle are attached 10
twigs but the other corner. which
terminates in a single thread. is held
by the spider, perchlng on a neighbor-
ing twig When a fy strikes the web
the spider loosens his hold, and the
elastic threads instantly entangle the
victim.
If you anchor pole IN n body OF
water. leaving the pole above the sur
face. and pnt q spider upon 1t. he win
exhibit a marvellous intelligence by his
plans Of escape. At first he will spin
web several inches long and hangto
one end. while be allows the other to
float OF IN the wind. an the hope that
it viii strike some object OF course
this plan proves n failure. He waits
until the wind shifts perhaps and then
sends another silken bridge floating on
in another direction. Another failure
is followed by several other similar at
tempts until all points Of the compass
have been tried. But neither the re-
sources nor the reasoning powers OF the
spider are sekhansted. IA rolimbs to
the top Of the pole and energetlcally
goes 10 work to construct a silken bal
loon.
He has no hot air with which 10 in
6ate r. but he. has the power Of max.
ing Il buoyant When he gets his hnl-
loon finished he does not go on upon
the mere supposition thaf It wifi carry
him. as men often do. but he fastens
It TO a guy rope. He then gets into his
acrial vehicle while it is fast and tests
IL to see whether It's Dimensions are
capable Of bearing HIN away he
sometimes finds that he has made Il
TOO small. I'm which case he hauis it
down. takes It all apart and constructs
II on a larger and better plan. A spider
has been seen 20 make THREE different
balloons before be. became satisfied
with his experiment. Then he will get
in, snap his guy rope and sail away. to
land as gracefully and as supremely
independent Of his surroundings as
could well be imagined.
Tie diving bel. is considered to be a
great invention, yet long before man
thought OF his diving bell the water
spider had hers. in which she reared
her numerous family. There are sever
al remarkable thugs about this nost.
One Of them is the manner in which It
Is made.
In that businesslike manner which
characterizes all spiders she boldly
plunges into the water and walks down
the stem OF a pond weed. When she
has selected q suitable position for her
silken palace she fiexes a number OF
strong lines In all directions for anchor
age Then in the midst OF these she
constructs a beautiful web. somewhat
IN the shape OF a thlmble, but not
quite 80 large. II is full Of water and
therefore not like n diving bell. How
IS the water 10 be got out and replaced
with airf
The true explanation Is wonderful
She carries the whole OF the air re
quired from the surface Hor bod,
and legs are covered with grayisl
hairs. She plunges quickly Into IN
water The movement is 50 rapid tina
the air has not time 70 escape from he
hairy coat and she goes down SUI
rounded by globules OF air. Whe
ncross the threshold Of her own HON
she carefully dislodges this air by rul
hing herself with her legs. The III
Grated bubbles Immediately arise
the roof Of her house and there r
main. In this way she at length M
the whole bell and takes up her pos
ton in IL. always head downwar
Here she passes the winter. keepin
snug and quiet until the warm day
Of spring invite her to the surface
quest Of flies and other small insects
Lippincoit's Magazine
The Bright child.