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 stretch their 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.