The Life of the Spider 



thread is stuck in this star-shaped fringe, the 

 foundation of the building and the crux of 

 the whole, while every elsewhere it is simply 

 laid on, in a manner determined by the move- 

 ments of the hind-legs. If we wished to un- 

 wind the work, the thread would break at 

 the margin; at any other point, it would 

 unroll. 



The Epeira ends her web with a dead- 

 white, angular flourish; she ends her nest 

 with brown mouldings, which run down, ir- 

 regularly, from the marginal junction to the 

 bulging middle. For this purpose, she makes 

 use, for the third time, of a different silk; 

 she now produces silk of a dark hue, vary- 

 ing from russet to black. The spinnerets 

 distribute the material with a wide longitudi- 

 nal swing, from pole to pole; and the hind- 

 legs apply it in capricious ribbons. When 

 this is done, the work is finished. The Spider 

 moves away with slow strides, without giving 

 a glance at the bag. The rest does not in- 

 terest her: time and the sun will see to it. 



She felt her hour at hand and came down 

 from her web. Near by, in the rank grass, 

 she wove the tabernacle of her offspring and, 

 in so doing, drained her resources. To re- 



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