17 OCTOBER 1970, Page 19

Ode to a dry spider

Some time ago I heard or read or viewed a learned man who gave it out as true that after mating, daddy spiders spent

two months (I think) without a drop of brew;

commending therefore not to harshly judge elusive Areneida in basin, bath trapped by deceptive polished surfaces that lured them in for hard-won drink but barred their outward path myself cajoles them into plastic tumbler, dry

for quick release on bathroom window-sill

hoping survival chances in the outside world for Nature's eight-legged loyalty will not prove to be

NIL.

Chas C. Al. Mawer 438 Kings Park Avenue, Ruther- glen, Glasgow