84 The Structure and Habits of Spiders. 



from the spinnerets. It has been often as- 

 serted that the spider fastens the thread by the 

 end, and allows a loop to blow out in the wind ; 

 but, in most cases, this is certainly not done, 

 only one thread being visible. Sometimes, 

 while a thread is blown from the hinder spin- 

 nerets, another from the front spinnerets is 



Fig. 41. 



kept fast to the ground, Fig. 41 ; so that, when 

 the spider blows away, it draws out a thread 

 behind it entirely independent of the one from 

 which it hangs. 



Sometimes, instead of a single thread, several 

 are blown out at once, like a long brush, as in 



