Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 37.djvu/56

46 This wish was gratified in the summer of 1882. An article drifted through American newspapers which detailed the ensnaring of a living mouse by a Kentucky spider. I was fortunately able to trace the story to its origin in the Lebanon (Ky.) Standard and Times. Correspondence with its intelligent editor, Mr. J. W. Hopper,



brought me entire confirmation of the report from a number of trustworthy sources. I think the incident of sufficient importance to justify a somewhat detailed presentation. The original account, as published by Mr. Hopper, is as follows:

"A very curious and interesting spectacle was to be seen Monday afternoon in the office of Mr. P. C. Cleaver's livery-stable in this city. Against the wall of the room stands a tolerably tall desk, and under this a small spider, not larger than a common pea, had constructed an extensive web reaching to the floor (Fig. 5). About half past eleven o'clock Monday forenoon, it was observed that the spider had ensnared a young mouse by passing filaments of her web around its tail. When first seen, the mouse had its fore-feet on the floor, and could barely touch the floor with its hind-feet. The spider was full of business, running up and down the line and occasionally biting the mouse's tail, making it struggle desperately. Its efforts to escape were all unavailing, as the slender filaments about its tail were too strong