The Life of the Spider 



perhaps. Let us wish them a prosperous 

 journey. 



The problem of dissemination is now 

 solved. What would happen if matters, in- 

 stead of being brought about by my wiles, took 

 place in the open fields? The answer is ob- 

 vious. The young Spiders, born acrobats and 

 rope-walkers, climb to the top of a branch so 

 as to find sufficient space below them to 

 unfurl their apparatus. Here, each draws 

 from her rope-factory a thread which she 

 abandons to the eddies of the air. Gently 

 raised by the currents that ascend from the 

 ground warmed by the sun, this thread wafts 

 upwards, floats, undulates, makes for its point 

 of contact. At last, it breaks and vanishes in 

 the distance, carrying the spinstress hanging 

 to it. 



The Epeira with the three white crosses, 

 the Spider who has supplied us with these first 

 data concerning the process of dissemination, 

 is endowed with a moderate maternal indus- 

 try. As a receptacle for the eggs, she weaves 

 a mere pill of silk. Her work is modest in- 

 deed beside the Banded Epeira's balloons. I 

 looked to these to supply me with fuller docu- 

 ments. I had laid up a store by rearing some 



202 



