Page 77 - The Miracle in the Spider
P. 77
OXYGEN
NITROGEN
CARBON
HYDROGEN
AMINO ACID
4 NANOMETRES GROUPS
SHEARING FORCE
0.7 NANOMETRE SHEARING FORCE 0.7 NANOMETRE
For even one of these to be lacking would mean death to the spider.
It would not be possible for a spider to survive without possessing
all of these at once. Imagine a spider which spun perfect webs to
wonderful designs but whose webs were not sticky. This would render
the spider's web completely useless. It is not even an option for it to wait
thousands of years for the process of evolution to teach it how to make
sticky webs, because without this knowledge the spider would be dead
within a few days. Or imagine a spider which could produce all kinds of
silk but was unable to make a web. Of course the silks it made would be
of no use at all and again it would die. Even if it was able to produce all
the silks, but not the cocoon silks to protect its eggs; in that case the spider
would die out. As has been demonstrated, spiders have never had the
time to acquire all the characteristics which they possess with the passing