Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1922-11-27
Great Strength in Spiders Web

The strength of the spider and of
the materials he which employs is
something almost incomprehensible
when the size of the insect and the
thickness of his thread are taken into
account. Some recent experiments
and observations reported by gov
eminent naturalist on this subject
arc quite surprising. single thread
of a web made by a spider which
weighed 81 milligrams supported
endwise weight of four grams, or
"a times the weight of the spider
when. therefore, a spider spins web
to let himself down from the ceiling
or from the branch of tree, and we
see him descending without seeing
the thread at all. we may be perfect
ly sure that he is not only in no dan
ger Of falling. but that he could
carry % other spiders down with him
OH his invisible rope.
Knowing this fact with respect to a
single thread, we need not be sur
prised that the threads Of a web, in
tcrwoven and reinforced one by an
other, have very considerable
strength and are able to hold bees
and wasps, themselves very powerful
in proportion to their size. and to
bend without breaking under a
weight or dew or rain.
Not insects alone, it appears. may
be held in a spiders web. An au-
thentic report presented to a scien-
tific society relates how a spider cap
tured and held mouse in it's web.
The mouse, to be sure, was a very
little one; it was afterward found to
measure little less than an inch and
a half from the tip of it's nose TO the
root of it's tail; but it was apparently
size.
Coming into a workroom at about
- o'clock one morning, gentleman
discovered the little mouse entangled
in spiders web which had been
spun from the edge Of bench to the
floor. The animal had evidently got
partly through the web and then been
held. for his forefeet were on the floor
but he could not pull his hinder parts
through the web.
The observer, in the interest of
science set about watching the sub
scquent proceedings. The spider that
resided in the web was already en-
gagged in running up and down ex-
citedly, and now and then viciously
biz or stung the tail of the mouse.
The animal struggled, but failed to
free himself.
After a time the spider began to
operate it's web in such a way as to
lift the mouse clear of the floor and
suspend him in the web. At 2
o'clock in the afternoon the mouse's
feet no longer touched the floor. In
the early evening he was nearly an
inch in the air.
At o'clock in the evening the
mouse showed signs of death. He
was, indeed, still alive, but made no
movement except when the spider
stung him. Next morning he was
quite dead and hung nearly three
inches above the floor.
The spiders effort in lifting and
singing the mouse was evidently not
to kill the mouse, but to free him
from the net-that is to bring his
weight to bear upon it and to stimu-
late him to struggle. The spider did
rot want the mouse; he wanted him
out of his web.
Another observer reported to the
same society that he had witnessed
the capture of a small fish by large
black spider in the water Of a ditch.
The fish struggled vainly to get away
from the spider. but plainly could not
have done SO if the watcher. more
merciful than the other observer, had
not interfered and separated the an
agonists.-Washing Star.
Kentville. N. S.-Harry III. Wick
- L.