The Life of the Spider 



ascensional force of the thread and the weight 

 carried. Then the beastie remains stationary, 

 although continuing to climb. 



Presently, the weight becomes too much 

 for the shorter and shorter float; and the 

 Spider slips down, in spite of her persistent 

 forward striving. She is at last brought 

 back to the branch by the falling thread. 

 Here the ascent is soon renewed, either 

 on a fresh thread, if the supply of silk 

 be not yet exhausted, or on a strange 

 thread, the work of those who have gone 

 before. 



As a rule, the ceiling is reached. It is twelve 

 feet high. The little Spider is able, there- 

 fore, as the first product of her spinning-mill, 

 before taking any refreshment, to obtain a line 

 fully twelve feet in length. And all this, the 

 rope-maker and her rope, was contained in the 

 egg, a particle of no size at all. To what a 

 degree of fineness can the silky matter be 

 wrought wherewith the young Spider is pro- 

 vided ! Our manufacturers are able to turn 

 out platinum-wire that can only be seen when 

 it is made red-hot. With much simpler means 

 the Spiderling draws from her wire-mill 

 threads so delicate that even the brilliant light 



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