1938 - The Vasculum

THE VASCULUM
Vol. XXIV. No. 2. MAY, 1938.
ARACHNIDA IN CAPTIVITY.
J. E. HULL.
It seems probable that the detestation in which spiders and their
allies were once generally held is losing its strength; nevertheless there must
be very many people who would no more dream of taking a spider under
their care than they would of introducing a wolf or cobra into the family
circle. Like the toad " ugly and venomous," spiders have an evil reputation
to live down and not many opportunities of doing it. Before history began
Anglo- Saxons knew them (as Scandinavians still do) by the name of
"attercop." which means lump of poison. Venomous they are, in their
measure, which is very small indeed compared with the sting of a bee or
wasp, for all that is required of it is to stupefy their prey.
Moreover, their most intimate contact with us tells heavily against
them, for in our homes even their virtues are set to their discredit; the more
industrious they are, the greater nuisance they become. War against the
pernicious house-fly may be praise-worthy, but the means employed is
abomination to the housewife. Yet Bruce is far from being the only person
able to view the spider in a less sinister aspect. On Tyneside in the days of
my youth I was assured that to find a spider crawling on one's clothes was a
sure indication of the speedy acquisition of a new suit; also that the killing
of a spider was so heinous a deed that it would certainly cause a fall of rain.
Another thing which tells against spiders is the difficulty of
handling them. Nobody abhors a thing which can be handled comfortably;
but the trouble with a spider is that the legs offer the only means of holding
it, and if you grasp a leg the spider promptly makes you a present of it and
departs hastily without it.