The Truth About Spiders

New Zealand Listener, Volume 26, Issue 671, 16 May 1952, Page 7

The Truth About Spiders

ACCORDING to Dr. Muffet-father of the hapless Miss Muffetthere is no man, nor any creature, that can compare with a spider, with her skin so soft, smooth, polished and neat, and her. fingers long, slender, round, of exact feeling» Many fascinating and some repellent facts about the creature are revealed in Spiders, a programme written and produced for the BBC by Nesta Pain-one of the BBC entries for’ last year’s Italia Prize international radio contest. It is to be heard from 3YC at 7.30 p.m. on Saturday, May 24. In his affairs of the heart, the male spider has to deal with many almost insuperable difficulties, as the approach of a tiny moving body suggests to the female spider~ dinner rather than an amorous diversion. The methods he adopts to avoid a premature end to his wooing are endless in their variety, ranging from a romantic dance of love to the more practical but equally effective gift of a silken-bound insect. Many listeners will find the description of the mating habits of the spider the most interesting part of this programme, but they will hear also about the ways spiders hunt for food-on foot, by ambush or by ensnaring in webs-and how they solve their family problems and dispose of their enemies. Dr. W. S. Bristowe, who wrote The Comity of Spiders, gave advice on spiders, and the music, specially written by Antony Hopkins, describes an unwary insect blundering into a web and the spider’s final attack on her prey, the signal given by the male to the female as he approaches her web, and the dance of love. : Social Nesta Pain has become best known to listeners recently through her programmes on the brain and mind. Another of these, The Misfit, is to have its first New Zealand broadcast next week, from 4YC at 9.30 p.m. on Friday, May 23, and from 4YA at 8.5 p.m. on Sunday, May 25. The misfit-the psycho-path-Mrs. Pain points out, is out of tune with his race and his age, but he isn’t. mad, Is there a physical cause

for his condition? Is it mainly inherited? Mrs. Pain discusses these points and the forms the condition takes-from the callous murderer to the man who is a nuisance to his family because he can’t keep a job. The psychopath is a problem to medicine because there is, as yet, noeffective treatment for him; to the law because he falls into ne recognised* category (he’s not insane, yet a prison sentence teaches him nothing); to society, since he may commit one crime after another simply because he hasn’t the means to make sound moral judgments. "No satisfactory way has yet been devised of dealing with them," Nesta Pain wrote in her Radio Times introduction to the feature, "but the first essential is to build up some understanding of this condition and its cause." Scientific advice for The Misfit was given by Professor Alexander Kennedy. The first essential in preparing a scientific programme is intensive reading in a general way, so as to work out a tentative scheme for discussion with scientific advisers, Mrs. Pain said recently, discussing her methods of work.

The advisers may suggest modifications, they will advise on sources and sometimes give original case material. The next few weeks are spent reading and collecting material. This must give a clear, comprehensive picture and be suitable for radio. A draft script is prepared for the scientific advisers and later discussed with them in detail. The amended script is also generally sent to the advisers for final vetting, and the programme is rehearsed for probably two days before at last it goes on the air. New Zealand Programmes Lisfeners with an interest in nature and science will also we well provided for in two /new monthly features to be heard on link from YA and YZ stations starting this month. The first of these, The World of Nature, will be heard on the third Tuesday each month at 9.15 p.m., starting on May 20. Reg Williams, whose recent Spotlights on Nature was a popular series, will be heard regular] in the new feature. His first subject is "Native Frogs of New Zealand," and other talks already planned include "Beautiful Poisoners" (the Portuguese Man of War) and "The Fantastic Seahorse." Science Commentary is the title of the second feature, to be heard on the fourth Tuesday at 9.15 p.m., starting on May 27. This will introduce each month a different speaker, who will discuss some development in his own field. The first will be Professor F. J. Llewellyn, Professor of Chemistry at Auckland University College. Professor Llewellyn will talk about some of the difficulties the chemist faces in dealing with such concepts as quantum theory and wave mechanics. Fed, Science will be the theme also in other talks to be heard from various stations later in the year. One series will be about problems of high-speed flight, another about the agricultural sciences, a third-by Professor L. W. McCaskill-will discuss rural sociology in New Zealand. Listeners will also héar about the sciences that have developed in the present century and something of what science has done to help us in our everyday life. Details of these talks will appear in The Listener when broadcaste ing dates have been arranged.