The history of silk, cotton, linen, wool, and other fibrous ... - Cd3wd.com

SILKEN MATERIAL OF THE SPIDER. 161
he was several times bitten, without experiencing any inconve-
nience ; if so, he was more fortunate or less sensitive than any
of the spider-tamers with whom we have been acquainted. It
was further asserted, that this venom extended itself to the silk
which the spider produced ; but this assertion was utterly ab-
surd, as any one who has ever applied a cobweb to stop the
bleeding from a cut ought to have known. Mr. Bon declared
with perfect truth, that the silk, so far from being pernicious,
was useful in staunching and liealing wounds, its natural glu-
ten acting as a kind of balsam. •
The honest enthusiasm of the projector, and the singularity
of a regular establishment being formed for rearing and work-
ing spiders, excited a considerable share of pubUc attention. It
was, indeed, an age of strange speculations, for nearly at the
same time a German gentleman broached a scheme for turn-
ing tame squirrels and mice to account in spinning ; and com-
panies were formed in England, with large nominal capitals to
carry out schemes still more preposterous. So important did
Mr. Bon's project appear to the French Academy, that they
deputed the eminent naturalist, M. Reaumur, to investigate
the merits of this new silk-filament.
After a long and patient examination M. Reaumur stated the
following objections to Mr. Bon's plan for raising spider-silk,
which have ever since been regarded as insurmountable.
1. The natural fierceness of spiders renders them unfit to be
bred together. On distributing four or five thousand of these
insects into cells or companies of from fifty to one or two hundred,
it was found that the larger spiders quickly killed and
ate the smaller^ so that in a short space of time the cells were
depopulated, scarcely more than one or two being found in each
cell.
2. The sillv of the spider is inferior to that of the silk-worm
both in lustre and strength ;
and produces less material in pro-
portion, than can be made available for the purposes of the
manufacture. The filament of the spider's-bag can support a
weight of only thirty-six grains, while that of the silk-worm
will sustain a weight of one hundred and fifty grains. Thus
four or five threads of the spider must be brought together to
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