, instead of being, as is
vulgarly supposed, a cemetery for smaller organisms, is in reality his
brick-field and rope-walk, and out of this minute sack he will produce
endless miles of cordage and web which he weaves into the most
beautiful and mathematical harmonies. This is a self-contained utility
which might be imitated by men with advantage, and that which is done
with ease by a spider can scarcely offer insuperable difficulty to the
chief of the vertebrates. Of course, each man's production will be
more or less guided and limited by his capacity.--Thus, fat men will
spin forth cathedrals, opera-houses and railway stations. Thin men
will devote themselves to obelisks, church spires, factory chimneys,
and artistic bric-a-brac. Short men will willingly produce artisans'
dwellings, busts of famous men and, perhaps, now and then, pyramids or
villa residences. Constant work of this description will not alone
render us independent of landlords, but, by atrophy of the digestive
organs, will inaugurate a brighter era for long-suffering, food-fed
humanity.

"Suppose it is advanced that man cannot keep up his strength and
usefulness without some kind of exterior nourishment--I will then
proceed to demonstrate how this can be most easily accomplished. Our
first cousins, the trees and bushes, do not sit down at stated hours to
a heterogeneous mess of steak, tea and onions: they stand firm in the
ground unhurried by the sound of the dinner-bell and careless of the
state of the American market. As the spider is sufficient in itself in
house-building, so are the trees, the grass and all inorganic life
self-supporting so far as food is concerned. The reason is, that
trees, grass and flowers are bedded in the earth, the source of all
nourishment. Let this fact be but properly understood, and the last
and greatest bar to human progress will be removed, and 'the
millenniums which so furiously chase us' will have a chance of catching
us up.

"If, once a week, men would bury themselves to the chin in good fertile
clay, and allow the nurture of the earth to permeate their bodies there
would be an end to this gross and unfortunate digestive activity. I
have myself experimented in this direction with the most encouraging
results. A rich, loamy soil is very good--it is rather cold at the
bottom, but invigorating. Light, sandy clay would suit sedentary
persons such as parsons, artists, judges. In poor ground some
superphosphates, or a li