Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-09
SPIDER LORE.
superstitious Old Wives Tales and
Literary Allusions.

Literary Al1usions.
From the London GloLe.
The compendious code OF superstition
founded on the hotsam and 1etsam Of all
creeds and Of all ages will not fail to reveal
some record Of even the smallest specimens
OF creation. In the imminent and lumber
rooms Of tradition none viii search long in
vain for testi1cation to this. and 1t will
probably DO found that the spider. which
Solomon has classed among the four things
which are little upon earth but exceeding
wise bears alone the honor Of being small
In size. but great IN fame. As an example
OF perseverance, the case Of the spider lin
gers in our memory among the earliest
adages OF the nursery. This anecdote serves
as jam to one Of the pills of history, an1
the ingenious babu who asserted that
Hon. Bruce succeeded In tanning q spider
to climb UP thread and fall down seven
tines in succession" was certainly an illus
tratfon Of the breadth of the appeal. AS
model of industry no one denies the spider
her irreproachable position.
"She taketh hold with her hands and lie in
kings palaces" AS therapeutic agent of
vast potentialities the recipes of old medi-
cine men, Quacks and mountebanks TEEN
with directions for converting her straight
way into a potion, a prophylactic or an
amulet. History. or perhaps more correct
ly tradition. credits her with the sudden
shrouded some hunted refugee in the hour
Of peril and turned forever the feet of the
pursuer of the trail into the wilderness.
She Is known to have sacrificed herself in
the cause of humanity. and, however un-
willing such an act may have been. she
has, in one case, at least, been awarded no
despicable form Of immortality. There is
another side to her character which 1t
would be well not to overlook, for 1t shows
that there Is scarcely a limit to be set to
the widely distributed power on which her
reputation rests. She is endowed with
lethal proclivities, and there can be little
doubt that certain cases Of murder lie
charged to her on good evidence.
According to Shakespeare: There may
be in the cup a spider stepped, and one may
drink; depart and yet partake no venom
If Frederick the Great was aware of this,
1t was perhaps simply meticulousness which
caused him to refuse a cup Of coffee into
which a spider had fallen and drowned IT.
self. We can assume. in the absence of
knowledge, that Frederick was ignorant Of
Shakespeare's reputation of the fatal re-
suits Of taking spider-contaminated refresh
ments and that he thought only of the old
legend. Probably, however there was a
more reconcile influence than this at work
For whatever webs of destiny that particu-
lar spider may have woven In its past 1t
never aimed more surely at the future than
in that act of self-immoation. The cup of
coffee had been treacherously poisoned and
the cook into whose hands 1t was returned
fearful Of certain discovery, shot himself
without more ado. This Is but case in
many and on the whole 1t must be said
that the salutary qualities of spiders appear
to have been more actively employed than
their much advertised toxic powers. Their
reputation regards the latter is consid-
cred by some to be quite an undeserved
stigma, and we hear comparatively little
of II.
There are others also who constitute
themselves the special defenders of the
spider Scott tells us that no one of the
name of Bruce, "of happy memory would
dare in wantonness to kill spider. Sim
liar scruples should attach to many an
other whose namesakes have been indebted.
The cave of Adulam. historic in more than
one way, offered a very secure retreat for
David when "all his hope was cut off" But
we are asked to believe that he owed his
preservation to the intervention of a spider
which, with the utmost aiacrity. spun Its
web over the mouth. Beyond such an eff
fective barrier Sauls men would not pene-
trate Its presence was to them sufficient
witness to the unviolated sanctity of the
cave, and they passed on. Mahometan zeal
embellishes the same story and sets it in
new surroundings.
reshites sought refuge In a cave, lured
thereto, perhaps. by the remembrance OF
the older incident. And, imparttally enough
up sprang an acacia tree at the very en-
trance, In the branches of which a wood
pigeon built her nest and a spider her web.
This lacks both the inctsiyeness and con-
ciseness of the first story, but 1t has its
own value helping to swell the evidence
which would invest the spider with the
character of a good fairy.
As to the ancient position of the spider
in the pharmacopeia of the day too much
could easily be said. When Basil the black
smith enumerated to the Acadian wander
ers all the advantages of the Canadian ell
mate he took occasion to add, in words
"milder and gayer" only. beware of the
fever my friends beware of the fever! For
It is not like that of our cold Acadian eli
mate cured by wearing a spider hung
round ones neck in a nutshell" a warn
ing that was taken without any comment.
1t can only be said that this fever was Of
an exceptional kind, for the warning con-
veys an idea contradictory to many of the
ca gerly accepted nostrums which were
chiefly compounded of spiders. Old wives
tales and others declare that all fevers are
altogether beyond the reach of the thera-
peutic powers of a regular doctor. Some
thing more superstitious and less scentiflc
was found more effective. An infallible cure
for ague is said to be spider, put into q
goose quill well sealed and secured. and
hung about the patients neck. Or. when
the fit Is coming on. catch q spider, roll II
up like pill, and swallow it with delay.
AS a perpetual guarantee against ague,
however, ii is necessary to sew a spider UP
IN rags and wear it round the neck. This
is most efficacio a periapt. If the suf-
ferer Is prevented by his peculiar psyche
logical attitude from swallowing pills, he ls
advised to make powders of spiders, which
may be taken with water. This seems at
first to present some little difficulty to the
uninitiat ted but It is no doubt one of those
things that may be solved with little pa
thence and good deal of experiment.