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
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