The Life of the Spider 



striped livery. The abdomen is white and, as 

 it were, floury in the front half; in the other 

 half it is a blackish-brown. The rest of the 

 body is pale-yellow, except in front, where the 

 eyes form a black edging. When left alone, 

 the little ones remain motionless in the soft, 

 russet swan's down; if disturbed, they shuffle 

 lazily where they are, or even walk about in a 

 hesitating and unsteady fashion. One can see 

 that they have to ripen before venturing out- 

 side. 



Maturity is achieved in the exquiste floss 

 that surrounds the natal chamber and fills out 

 the balloon. This is the waiting-room in 

 which the body hardens. All dive into it as 

 and when they emerge from the central keg. 

 They will not leave it until four months later, 

 when the midsummer heats have come. 



Their number is considerable. A patient 

 and careful census gives me nearly six hun- 

 dred. And all this comes out of a purse no 

 larger than a pea. By what miracle is there 

 room for such a family ? How do those thou- 

 sands of legs manage to grow without strain- 

 ing themselves? 



The egg-bag, as we learnt in Chapter II, is 

 a short cylinder rounded at the bottom. It is 



204 



