The Life of the Spider 



same kind, she settles upon it and never stirs 

 from it, even though the different arrange- 

 ment of the leafy fence be such as to warn 

 her that she is not really at home. Provided 

 that she have satin under her feet, she does 

 not notice her mistake; she watches over an- 

 other's nest with the same vigilance which she 

 might show in watching over her own. 



The Lycosa surpasses her in maternal 

 blindness. She fastens to her spinnerets and 

 dangles, by way of a bag of eggs, a ball of 

 cork polished with my file, a paper pellet, a 

 little ball of thread. In order to discover if 

 the Thomisus is capable of a similar error, I 

 gathered some broken pieces of silk-worm's 

 cocoon into a closed cone, turning the frag- 

 ments so as to bring the smoother and more 

 delicate inner surface outside. My attempt 

 was unsuccessful. When removed from her 

 home and placed on the artificial wallet, the 

 mother Thomisus obstinately refused to settle 

 there. Can she be more clear-sighted than the 

 Lycosa? Perhaps so. Let us not be too 

 extravagant with our praise, however; 

 the imitation of the bag was a very clumsy 

 one. 



The work of laying is finished by the end 



222 



