The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-07-02
THE NEW SILK SUPPLY.

It has ever been a matter of wonder that no practicable method has been reached by which the silk of the spi- der could be utilized and made profit able. We are aware that 1t has been used in an experimental way, and that both thread and cloth have been made from this material. At the Paris Ex- position in 1900 there was on exhibi- tion a fabric eighteen inches wide and eighteen wards long. made entirely from spiders webs. and it was of beautiful texture and lustre.
 Of all this we are aware. as well as of many other experiments. but the wonder has been that no really prac- tical results have followed such ef- forts. There is hardly a limit to the number. variety or size of spiders. They abound everywhere and we should imagine that their numbers could be increased without limit. if necessary. Whether they can be do- mesticated. so to speak. as has been done with silkworms we are not pre- pared to say. but the following from The New York Mail indicates that fashionable ladies may yet clothe themselves from the product of the in sect of which they stand most in dread:
 A recent report from Consul Hunt. who Is stationed at Tamatave Mada- gascar, suggests the conclusion that spider silk may yet become a commer- cial as well as a physical possibility. producing both white and a yellow silk. which has been made into hand kerchiefs and a specimen of the silk Agriculture. But 1t is not yet com- n.,rclaI product. because the spiders must be kept separate to keep them from devouring each other, and their provided as the mulberry leaf diet of the vegetarian silkworm. The Mada- gascar spider Is also carnivorous and solitary-like the introspective theory spinning philosopher, 1t must live specimen will yield about 1000 yards of web. It is two and one-half inches long. and can be divested of its silk which it dies. The web is so strong that, .as our consul says. he has hung his bamboo cane upon 1t when he en- countered 1t in the forest.
 The spider is to be seen by millions in the wooded gardens In the suburbs of the Madagascar capital and. in the tempt was made to collect specimens and set them to work on the Paris Exposition cloth. the natives who were asked to secure them. having a get rich quick desire. brought them in by basketfuls, mostly dead" The spider submits with a tolerable grace to be divested of its filament. :.>@
 Of course Mr.-or Mrs.-Sp;der will have to be properly trained and in structed in the duties required and ex- pected of all who labor for the good of humanity but that is detail which need not stand in the way. If they eat each other it Is probably not from any cannibalistic propensities but be- cause of an insufficient supply of oth- CT food. If they can be provided with an ample supply of flies they will probably quit eating each other. and that opens up way to get rid of the surplus fly crop. If we can feed the flies to the spiders and then mako cloth and thread from the spiders fil- aments we will be accomplishing two desirable objects. There may also be some difficulty in getting them to give up their products as handily as the worms do but that Is another detail which can be managed. Human inge- nuity is almost limitless, and that 1t will get the best of the spiders, we have little doubt.