. American spiders and their spinning work. A natural history of the orbweaving spiders of the United States, with special regard to their industry and habits. Spiders. ENGINEERING SKILL OF SPIDERS. 227 by various threads fastened upon the intersecting lines of the maze. From a little corner in the upper part of the leaf a similar line, b, was stretched, braced by two interior lines of a like character (cc and d), which • fZ" . ^^^^ ^^^ stem cable were also held in place by numerous slighter Cables cords extending through the maze. A careful study of these main supporting cables, and inde
. American spiders and their spinning work. A natural history of the orbweaving spiders of the United States, with special regard to their industry and habits. Spiders. ENGINEERING SKILL OF SPIDERS. 227 by various threads fastened upon the intersecting lines of the maze. From a little corner in the upper part of the leaf a similar line, b, was stretched, braced by two interior lines of a like character (cc and d), which • fZ" . ^^^^ ^^^ stem cable were also held in place by numerous slighter Cables cords extending through the maze. A careful study of these main supporting cables, and indeed of all the lines used for upholding the leaf, convinced me that, whether or not thfe spider was con- scious of any principles of engineering, she had in her results proved herself an admirable engineer. I kept this leaf under observation for a number of days of varied weather, and it never lost its poise, or was. Fio. 216. The snare and stay lines of Agalena noovia in a Iioneysuckle vine. moved from its place within the labyrinth. It endured well the strain of one of the most severe downpours of rain that I ever saw. It thus stood the test of actual use as well as careful observation. In accounting for such acts as this, one is compelled to suppose the exercise of reasoning powers of some kind by the spider. Whether the reasoning may have been accomplished by the processes known to man and more highly organized animals, or whether the behavior of the spider was the result of sensations produced by her delicate sense of touch, and a perception of irregularities of weight and tension, which })asses human ex- perience, one need not stop to discuss. In point of fact, judging these. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original McCook, Henry C. (Henry Christopher), 1837-1911. [Philadelphia] The Author, Aca
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectspiders, bookyear1889
