114 



SPIDERS 



[CH. 



there is no interweaving of the out-put of these 

 various spools and spigots. At the moment of 

 emission the threads are adhesive, and can be made 

 to stick to the glass or to one another, but they are 

 not in anv sense either fused or interwoven. For 



/ 



ordinary operations the brunt of the work is borne 

 by the spigots marked a in the figure, sometimes 

 reinforced by silk from the spigots on the median 



ABC 



Fig. 12. View, from the inner side, of one of each of the three spin- 

 nerets of Epeira. A, anterior ; B, median ; C, posterior spinneret. 



spinnerets marked b, the functions of all the other 

 spools and spigots being special and occasional. For 

 instance, when Epeira is laying down a foundation 

 line, this is what happens. The spider sits down, so 

 to speak, on a twig, separating its spinnerets and 

 rubbing them on the surface. As it raises its abdomen 

 a multitude of little threads are seen merging into 

 what appears to be a single line. 



In reality the line is double, emerging from the 



