One of the natural myths debunked. We even saw him in The Flood.

The method of wound healing using spider webs has been known for centuries, and thanks to the literature it has survived in people’s minds to this day. In fact, when centuries before and before the invention of antibiotics, any infection could have ended in death, people were looking for some natural ways to prevent infection and speed up treatment. Cobweb, ground with bread, became extremely powerful as a natural antibiotic and antiseptic known in folk medicine for years.

It turned out to be wrong, and this was proven by research published in the journal “Science”. The research also builds on the discoveries and experiences of Polish biologists from the Department of Microbiology at Adam Mickiewicz University in Pozna in collaboration with the Department of Animal Taxonomy and Ecology.

They examined seven species of spiders and their webs – the striped tiger (one of the largest spiders with a tiger body, yellow and black stripes are also found in Poland), the garden spider, as well as the multicolored tarantula from the island of Martinique, the brown widow from South Africa, the spider, the African social spider from a kind of Stegodephos Domicola And the corner of the house located in our apartments. Of this group, tygrzyk, crusaders and spinning spiders are highly specialized web spiders.

It should be noted that the construction of fishing nets is an evolutionary achievement for spiders. Their ancestors did not do this, and used cobwebs for other purposes, for example to tie tracks to them, so that they could feel the vibrations of a passing victim. Over the years, spiders have learned to weave webs that, in some thorns, can reach two meters in length. Our Teutonic Knights nets can also be impressive at times.

Diverse use of this unique material as it is spider web Perhaps it is hidden behind the legends that surround it. After all, it was the Teutonic Knights who supposedly woven a spider web covering the entrance to the cave where Mary and Joseph hid with Jesus, causing the hunted Herod to decide that no one was here. The fascination of people and folk medicine with spider tissue was so great that it is attributed to its magical and healing properties.

substantially, spider web It is a normal phenomenon. It leaves the spider’s body through spindles in the form of fast-drying polymer fibers based on proteins. She is famous for her relatively amazing stamina, which is why she is interested even in the military.

We know spiders can produce different types of threads depending on what you’re using them for – some for ground traps, others for overhead nets, and even for individual pieces. no thing It is also used to wrap prey, create cocoons for eggs, to move and escape (take the Indian summer), and even to fight, and some spiders can use it like a lasso. The water spider that lives in Poland creates air containers from the thread, thanks to which it can live under the surface of the water.

The research was based on cobwebs testing them with bacteria Escherichia coli I Pseudomonas putida And Bacillus subtilis. Unfortunately, it showed spider web It does not have a bactericidal effect as it is believed. In addition, staining experiments and fluorescence microscopy showed the presence of live bacteria on the surface of the tape, indicating the absence of antimicrobial activity in direct contact.

In short, a piece of folk medicine and literature was wrong. Kneading bread with cobwebs does not allow wounds to heal faster and infections under control. If something like this happened after applying it, it was by chance, because we are dealing with a placebo.

The myth surrounding spider webs probably came from how spiders use threads themselves. They associate hiding places with them, and protect eggs with them, so it was not difficult to conclude that they were doing this to protect them and themselves from the pathogen. Meanwhile, research shows that cobwebs are just a physical barrier to microbes, not a medical one.

Also the fact that cobwebs It’s made of proteins, which may have led to the conclusion that if so, there must be something to process it. However, there is no evidence for this. According to research, the shell of a young brown widow’s egg has some bactericidal properties, but the hyphae themselves are not.

However, Kimlici kneaded bread with a spider web to cover his Komicec wounds, and Maćko of Bogdanek was treated to that peculiarity in “Teutonic Knights” when he was hit by a Teutonic arrow. However, in this case, there was no result, so Zbyszko from Bogdanek was forced to look for a bear (and fat it), for which he almost paid with his life.

As if this were not enough, bear fat also does not have healing properties, so this trip turned out to be in vain.

Radoslav Naurot