The Life of the Spider 



continual movement. The young Spiders 

 never cease shifting their position on the web. 

 Many let themselves drop, hanging by a 

 length of thread which the faller's weight 

 draws from the spinnerets. Then quickly they 

 climb up again by the same thread, which they 

 wind gradually into a skein and lengthen by 

 successive falls. Others confine themselves to 

 running about the web and also give me the 

 impression of working at a bundle of ropes. 



The thread, as a matter of fact, does not 

 flow from the spinneret; it is drawn thence 

 with a certain effort. It is a case of extrac- 

 tion, not emission. To obtain her slender 

 cord, the Spider has to move about and haul, 

 either by falling or by walking, even as the 

 rope-maker steps backwards when working 

 his hemp. The activity now displayed on the 

 drill-ground is a preparation for the approach- 

 ing dispersal. The travellers are packing up 



Soon we see a few Spiders trotting briskly 

 between the table and the open window. They 

 are running in mid-air. But on what? If the 

 light fall favourably, I manage to see, at mo- 

 ments, behind the tiny animal, a thread resem- 

 bling a ray of light, which appears for an in- 

 stant, gleams and disappears. Behind, there- 



194 



