Inquisitive Jack.CHAPTERV.
About spiders.—How they make their webs, set their nets, and other things.
Thereare a great many people who imagine that such little things as bees, bugs, butterflies, spiders and other insects, are unworthy of their notice; but this is a great mistake.
All these creatures have eyes, legs, feet, and other organs. They are all curiously contrived, like little machines, to creep, crawl or fly. They have all wonderful faculties; by which they are able to get a living, and to make themselves happy. They are, therefore, veryinteresting to all persons who will inquire into their structure and their habits.
These creatures are so common that we are apt to overlook them as unworthy of our notice; but Inquisitive Jack, the hero of our story, did not fall into this error. He had an inquiring mind, and nothing was beneath his observation.
He had already discovered that there were many curious and wonderful things, even in insects, flowers, and other common objects; and in the study of these, he found never-ceasing amusement.
These things were like a pleasing book, full of pretty stories and curious pictures, and every day he found some new and interesting page.
One morning, very soon after the sun had risen, he was walking along among some bushes; it was early summer, and a heavy dew had fallen. As he was going along, the thread of a spider, strung from one bush to another, came across his nose, and he broke it as he passed along.
Pretty soon, he met with other instances, in which the spiders’ threads were extended from one shrub to another. Now, Jack was always asking himself how such and such a thing is done; and he therefore began to inquire how these spiders could stretch a line across from one tree to another; for he observed that these threads were sometimes ten, or even fifteen feet from the ground, and that they extended often to as great a distance from the branch of one tree to that of another.
Jack’s habit of investigation had made him very ingenious in explaining things; but here was something quite beyond his reach. He could in no way explain what he saw.
“Strange!” said Jack to himself, “that these little insignificant spiders should know more than I do. I like to find out things myself, but I can’t explain this; so I must go and ask aunt Piper about it.”
As Jack turned on his heel to fulfil his resolution, he noticed another spider’s web, covered with dew. His attention now being excited to the subject, he turned round, and saw as many as fifty others, set like nets among the bushes and the tall grass.
Jack had seen these things before, but his attention had not been excited, and therefore he had not investigated them. He now set about the inquiry, with all the ardor of youthful curiosity.
He spent some time in observing the different kinds of webs, and then proceeded to his aunt to ask her about them. She accordingly sat down, took her knitting-work, and while she worked briskly at her needles, she gave Jack the information he desired. The best way to tell the story, is to put it in the form of a dialogue.
Jack.Oh! aunt Betsey, I’ve found something so curious! Do you know I’ve been looking at the spiders, and I want to have you tell me about them. Pray, where do they get their threads? and how do they weave their nets so curiously? and how do they fasten their thread to the leaves? and how do they stretch their threads from one tree to another? and what do they do it all for—for fun, or for business?
Aunt P.One question at a time, if you please, Jack.
Jack.Why, I want you to tell me all about the spiders.
Aunt P.But where shall I begin?
Jack.Oh! I don’t care where you begin—I want to have you tell me everything.
Aunt P.Well, Jack, I’ll tell you what I know, and I shall answer your last question first. The spiders, I suppose, make their nets both for fun and business, for pleasure and profit. These creatures are made to live chiefly uponflies, but they are themselves destitute of wings. They are, therefore, provided with the means of making nets, by which they can catch as many flies as they want.
Thus you see that God, who made the spiders, has provided them with a good trade, by which they can get a living. So it is, dear Jack, that Providence provides for everything—the wants of even the insects are supplied; nothing is overlooked, and we shall see, on investigation, what wonderful ingenuity and contrivance the Creator has resorted to, in order to take care even of such insignificant creatures as spiders.
Jack.I thank you, aunt Betsey, for that idea—it makes the spider much more interesting, when we consider it as the work of God.
Aunt P.Yes, that is true, my boy. Now, as the spiders spread their nets in order to get a living, or for business, as you express it, they do it also for pleasure—for business and pleasure usually go together.
It may be very agreeable to children to scamper about, just for the sake of a frolic, but, generally speaking, the path of pleasure is the path of utility—in other words, there is more real satisfaction in doing something that is useful, than in mere idle sport. It is so with human beings, and, no doubt, it is so with spiders.
Jack.Well, aunt Betsey, you have answered one of my questions; but pray tell me where the spiders get their threads. They must have an immense manufactory of it somewhere. Are any of them rope-makers?
Aunt P.Yes, Jack, every one of them. Each one spins his own thread, and this is the most wonderful part of the whole story. You observe that the lower part of a spider’s body consists of a round ball.
In this, nature provides the insect with a gummy substance, which is spun into thread. It somewhat resembles melted glass, for a coarse thread of it is brittle, when it becomes dry; while a fine thread is as flexible as the fibres of cotton or silk.
The manner in which this gum or paste, is twisted into threads, has occupied the attention of many philosophers. By looking at the process through magnifying glasses, it has been discovered that even the finest thread in the web of the spider consists of many hundred strands.
These are drawn out from the body of the insect, being then in a soft state, like paste, but they immediately unite, and form one compact cord. In some instances, it is said that a single thread consists of four thousand strands.
Jack.Whew! that sounds like a whapper.
Aunt P.Still, it is no doubt true. There are many things invisible to the naked eye, which are revealed to us by the aid of magnifying glasses.
With the naked eye, we cannot see more than a thousand stars in the sky; with a telescope, we can see millions of stars. To the naked eye, a glass of pure water is perfectly transparent; yet a microscope will show that it is full of little animals.
With the naked eye, we can see nothing but fibres in the stalk of a flower, but by the aid of a microscope, we can see there myriads of creeping things. So, by the aid of a microscope, we can easily discover the thousand strands of which the spider’s thread is composed.
Jack.Well, aunt Betsey, I am not going to dispute you, for I know that you have always a good reason for what you say. But, pray tell me, how do the spiders tie their lines to the leaves and grass?
Aunt P.They stick them on with a kind of glue, with which nature has provided them.
Jack.Well, how do they stretchtheir lines across from one tree to another?
Aunt P.When a spider wishes to build a bridge from one shrub to another, he climbs up to a certain height, and draws out a long, loose line, taking care to have it in such a situation that the wind will carry it across to some other tree.
The end of the floating line is provided with a gummy substance, and fastens itself at once to whatever it touches. When the spider finds that his line has caught, he pulls it, to see if it is fast. If it is loose, he draws it up till it is straight, and then fastens it with gum.
Having secured the line, the spider makes a bridge of it, and crosses over in perfect safety. He now goes backwards and forward, each time adding a thread, for the purpose of giving it strength.
This line is like the rope to a fisherman’s net, and the spider immediately begins to weave his net upon it. He proceeds to set several strings round somewhat like the spokes of a wheel, and these he binds together by a series of circular threads.
When the whole is done, he weaves a hole in some sly corner, into which he retreats; but the moment that a fly gets entangled in his net, he darts forth, binds him round and round like a prisoner, and carries him off to his den.
Such was the main part of the dialogue that passed between Jack and his aunt. The boy expressed great satisfaction for what she had told him, and then went away to take another walk in the fields.