The Life of the Spider 



Often, the Spider confines herself to drawing 

 together the dry blades of the nearest grass, 

 which she ties down with the straps of her 

 spinnerets, without removing the blades from 

 the stems; often, also, she rejects this scaffold- 

 ing in favour of a masonry constructed of 

 small stones. The nature of the kerb is de- 

 cided by the nature of the materials within 

 the Lycosa's reach, in the close neighbour- 

 hood of the building-yard. There is no 

 selection : everything meets with approval, 

 provided that it be near at hand. 



Economy of time, therefore, causes the de- 

 fensive wall to vary greatly as regards its 

 constituent elements. The height varies also. 

 One enclosure is a turret an inch high; 

 another amounts to a mere rim. All have 

 their parts bound firmly together with silk; 

 and all have the same width as the subter- 

 ranean channel, of which they are the exten- 

 sion. There is here no difference in diameter 

 between the underground manor and its out- 

 work, nor do we behold, at the opening, the 

 platform which the turret leaves to give free 

 play to the Italian Tarantula's legs. The 

 Black-bellied Tarantula's work takes the form 

 of a well surmounted by its kerb. 



54 



