The Life of the Spider 



ing farther and farther from the centre, fixes 

 her line each time to the spoke which she 

 crosses and at last comes to a stop at the lower 

 edge of the frame. She has described a spiral 

 with coils of rapidly-increasing width. The 

 average distance between the coils, even in 

 the structures of the young Epeirae, is one 

 centimetre. 1 



Let us not be misled by the word 'spiral,' 

 which conveys the notion of a curved line. 

 All curves are banished from the Spiders' 

 work; nothing is used but the straight line and 

 its combinations. All that is aimed at is a 

 polygonal line drawn in a curve as geometry 

 understands it. To this polygonal line, a 

 work destined to disappear as the real toils are 

 woven, I will give the name of the 'auxiliary 

 spiral.' Its object is to supply cross-bars, 

 supporting rungs, especially in the outer zone, 

 where the radii are too distant from one 

 another to afford a suitable groundwork. Its 

 object is also to guide the Epeira in the ex- 

 tremely delicate business which she is now 

 about to undertake. 



But, before that, one last task becomes 

 essential. The area occupied by the spokes is 



1 .39 inch. — Translator's Note. 



240 



