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Gossamer |
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Title: Gossamer Author: Thomas Garnett [More Titles by Garnett] CLITHEROE, _October 20th_, 1859. To the Editor of the "Field." "A Young Inquirer" asks what is the cause of that appearance so often met with in the autumn, resembling spider-webs. He says, if it be the production of that insect, how do you account for their hanging apparently unsuspended in the air, as it is seen fifty or sixty feet high, without a tree or any other object near to which it could be attached? I suppose you have not time to give to such questions minutely, as your reply would lead one to infer that Gossamer proceeded from spiders in general; and if it be meant that all true spiders spin, it is no doubt correct; but the Gossamer which "A Young Inquirer" asks about is the production of a small black spider about the size of a flea, which was a true aeronaut long before Montgolfier or Lunardi, and if "A Young Inquirer" has access to either the "Linnean Transactions" or the first series of Loudon's "Magazine of Natural History," he will find particulars in the latter, showing that a violent controversy raged through the three first volumes between Mr. Blackwall and Dr. Murray on the question whether the ascent of this spider (_A. AEronautica_) was electric, or whether it merely travelled in the direction of the wind. But if "A Young Inquirer" would deserve his name, let him begin with these spiders and observe for himself; he will find the inquiry highly interesting. He has no doubt frequently seen a small black spider creeping on his hat or clothes (if he lives in the country this must have occurred to him many times); this is the aeronautic spider. Let him take this upon his hand, and if he be in the house let him carry it to the open door or window, and allow it to creep up to the tip of his finger, which he must then hold in a horizontal position. When the spider finds it can proceed no further by creeping, it generally drops a few inches, where it remains suspended for a short time, apparently quite still, but if very closely observed another thread (Gossamer) may be seen proceeding from its vent, and when this has reached the length which the spider's instinct tells it is sufficient for the purpose, it cuts off the connection till then existing between it and the thread by which it has hitherto been suspended from the finger, and floats away into space. Very often it rises almost vertically, sometimes its course is nearly horizontal, and sometimes it is oblique. I cannot say, as Mr. Murray does, that I have seen the spider go _against_ the wind, neither can I confirm Mr. Blackwall's assertions that he always goes right before the wind, for I have seen him go apparently across the current, so far as I could judge of the direction of the wind at the time. If "A Young Inquirer" makes the experiment I have suggested, let him not be discouraged if the first he tries does not go off at all, as I have sometimes found this to be the case, which I accounted for by supposing that possibly the supply of materials might be exhausted at the time. I do not remember that I ever saw one of these aeronautic spiders preying upon any insect, yet it must be for some such purpose that they ascend to great altitudes, sometimes in countless numbers, and the way they come down again is quite as curious as the manner in which they ascend. Many years since, as I was walking over the hills in the neighbourhood of Blackburn, on a bright, still morning in September, thousands of small locks of what looked like cotton wool were slowly descending to the ground from various altitudes-- some as high as I could see--and tens of thousands of similar locks were lying on the ground on both sides of the path by which I was travelling; and on examination I found that all these locks were Gossamer, some with the spider still with them, but generally deserted. The spiders when they wanted to come down, finding there was no descending current of air, or perhaps, as Mr. Murray says, no electricity, determined to descend in _parachutes_; they therefore had drawn up their cables hand over hand (as they may often be seen to do when they wish to ascend their own lines) until they accumulated a mass heavy enough to fall by its own weight, and carry them along with it. I have seen Gossamer in this form at other times before and since, but in the likeness of a snow-shower I never saw it except on that occasion, and, if I recollect aright, the same enormous shower of Gossamer was observed to extend as far as Liverpool. What induced these millions of spiders to go up at the same time, of course I do not know, and can only suppose that they went up to feed; but, as I have said previously, I never saw one of this species preying upon anything. The idea that they go aloft to kill the _Furia Infernalis_ is too fanciful to deserve credit. Who knows whether the _Furia Infernalis_ is anything else than a murderous Mrs. Harris--at all events, who has seen one, and what was it like? I suppose they are true sportsmen, and disdaining to take their fish in nets, they, like thorough brothers of the angle, fish only _with fine gut_. Gilbert White noticed one of these showers of Gossamer, and as his account is very interesting, I quote it. He says that on the 21st of September, 1741, intent upon field diversions, he rose before daybreak, but on going out he found the whole face of the country covered with a thick coat of cobweb drenched with dew, as if two or three setting-nets had been drawn one over the other. When his dogs attempted to hunt, their eyes were blinded and hoodwinked, so much that they were obliged to lie down and scrape themselves. This appearance was followed by a most lovely day. About 9 A.M. a shower of these webs (formed not of single threads, but of perfect flakes, some near an inch broad and five or six long) was observed falling from very elevated regions, which continued without interruption during the whole of the day, and they fell with a velocity which showed they were considerably heavier than the atmosphere. When the most elevated station in the country where this was observed was ascended, the webs were still to be seen descending from above, and twinkling like stars in the sun, so as to draw the attention of the most incurious. The flakes of the web on this occasion hung so thick upon the hedges and trees, that basketsful might have been collected. No one doubts (he observes) but that these webs are the production of small spiders. These aerial spiders are of two sizes, although of the same colour and general appearance; they are probably male and female. At all events they do not vary in size more than other species of spiders when the sexes differ. Has it been observed by naturalists that spiders eat their own webs? A large one that I used to feed when I was a lad with wasps, humble bees, and flesh-flies, used to do so occasionally. These insects were so strong that they often ruined the web in their efforts to escape, and the spider, quite aware of the rough customers it had to deal with, would often coil a cable of many folds round them before venturing to seize them with its mandibles. It would, if the web was ruined by the struggles of the insect, deliberately gorge it, which I accounted for by supposing that unless it did so it would not be able to secrete a sufficient supply of material to enable it to spin another. The leaping spiders are another curious species, which construct no webs, although they spin threads. This spider may be seen frequently on the walls of houses, and if carefully watched it will be seen to range up and down in quest of small gnats and other insects; when it observes one it creeps to within about two inches of it, and backing slightly, it appears to hesitate for a moment, and then springs upon the fly, but always before doing so it fixes a thread to the spot from whence it springs, so that if the fly happens to be too strong for it, and is able to detach itself from the wall, they both remain suspended from the thread which has been previously fixed by the spider. This I have seen more than once. They sometimes venture on larger game than the small gnats. One I was watching one day came upon one of the large _Ephemera_ (the Browndrake), an insect ten times as large as the spider, but after many points (for the setting of the spider before it springs is very similar in manner to that of a thoroughbred pointer [1]), in which it kept varying its position, apparently to gain some advantage, it gave up the attempt, discretion proving the better part of valour.
One of your correspondents was inquiring a few weeks since how it was that a spider could throw out a long line between two trees or buildings at a considerable distance from each other. This seems to me to be very easily explained, if we reason from the analogy of the flying spider. The spider seems to throw out a line, trusting it will catch somewhere or other, and it is able to ascertain it has done so by pulling at it, and when it finds that it is firmly fixed it starts off to travel upon it, as I have occasionally noticed. Everyone has noticed how carefully the spider carries her cocoon of eggs attached to the vent, and how disconsolate she appears to be when deprived of them; but I don't think it is so generally known that some of the spiders carry their young on their backs for some time after they are hatched. I remember seeing an instance of this one day when on the Moors, grouse-shooting. I saw what seemed to be a very curious insect travelling on the ling (heather), and on stooping down to examine it I found it was a large spider, upon the back of which (in fact, all over it) were clustered some dozens of young ones, about the size of pins' heads; she also seemed to guard them with great care, and seemed much afraid of losing them. [The end] GO TO TOP OF SCREEN |