The Life of the Spider 



happy wretch has been scrunched up, I in- 

 carcerate the terrible matron under a cage 

 standing in an earthen pan filled with sand. 



Early one morning, ten days later, I find 

 her preparing for her confinement. A silk 

 network is first spun on the ground, covering 

 an extent about equal to the palm of one's 

 handy. It is coarse and shapeless, but firmly 

 fixed. This is the floor on which the Spider 

 means to operate. 



On this foundation, which acts as a pro- 

 tection from the sand, the Lycosa fashions a 

 round mat, the size of a two-franc piece and 

 made of superb white silk. With a gentle, 

 uniform movement, which might be regulated 

 by the wheels of a delicate piece of clock- 

 work, the tip of the abdomen rises and falls, 

 each time touching the supporting base a little 

 farther away, until the extreme scope of the 

 mechanism is attained. 



Then, without the Spider's moving her 

 position, the oscillation is resumed in the op- 

 posite direction. By means of this alternate 

 motion, interspersed with numerous contacts, 

 a segment of the sheet is obtained, of a very 

 accurate texture. When this is done, the 

 Spider moves a little along a circular line and 



no 



