ix] WOLF-SPIDERS 65 



of a captive Lt/cosa which he kept in a glass jar partly 

 filled with soil. Luckily the spider dug its tunnel for 

 cocooning purposes up against the side of the jar, so 

 that its interior was visible. It was about an inch deep 

 and fairly wide, and its aperture was closed with silk. 



Against the perpendicular wall of soil a circular 

 silken cushion about three quarters of an inch in 

 diameter was spun, and the eggs deposited in the 

 centre. The edges of the cushion were then gathered 

 up and pulled over the eggs, and the bag thus formed 

 was finished off with an external layer of spinning 

 work on the two halves of the sphere, the seam or 

 " equator " being left thin for the exit of the young 

 spiders. The Lycosa then attached the cocoon to its 

 spinnerets and proceeded to bite away the silken 

 sheet which sealed the burrow. The whole operation 

 lasted about four and a half hours. 



Thenceforward, till the young are hatched, the 

 wolf-spider never quits her egg-bag, which she carries 

 about on all her expeditions attached by threads to 

 the spinnerets. Garden-spiders die soon after laying 

 their eggs and never see their progeny, but here we 

 have a case of maternal solicitude persisting for many 

 days, and the Peckhams seized upon it as a good 

 subject for investigating the subject of the memory 

 of spiders. If the cocoon were removed from the 

 spinnerets, after how long an interval would it be 

 recognised by the mother ? 



w. s. 5 



