The Labyrinth Spider 



together with silk. The same fears have in- 

 spired the same protective methods. 



Then how comes it that, of the five 

 mothers reared in my cages, not one has had 

 recourse to the clay rampart? After all, sand 

 abounded : the pans in which the wire-gauze 

 covers stood were full of it. On the other 

 hand, under normal conditions, I have often 

 come across nests without any mineral casing. 

 These incomplete nests were placed at some 

 height from the ground, in the thick of the 

 brushwood; the others, on the contrary, those 

 supplied with a coating of sand, lay on the 

 ground. 



The method of the work explains these 

 differences. The concrete of our buildings is 

 obtained by the simultaneous manipulation of 

 gravel and mortar. In the same way, the 

 Spider mixes the cement of the silk with the 

 grains of sand; the spinnerets never cease 

 working, while the legs fling under the ad- 

 hesive spray the solid materials collected in 

 the immediate neighbourhood. The opera- 

 tion would be impossible if, after cementing 

 each grain of sand, it were necessary to stop 

 the work of the spinnerets and go to a distance 

 to fetch further stony elements. Those 



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