The Clotho Spider 



requires a new home. That, no doubt, is why, 

 feeling that her ovaries are not yet dried up, 

 the Spider shifts her quarters and founds a 

 new establishment. 



The facts observed are confined to this 

 change of dwelling. I regret that other in- 

 terests and the difficulties attendant upon a 

 long upbringing did not allow me to pursue 

 the question and definitely to settle the matter 

 of the repeated layings and the longevity of 

 the Clotho, as I did in that of the Lycosa. 



Before taking leave of this Spider, let us 

 glance at a curious problem which has already 

 been set by the Lycosa's offspring. When 

 carried for seven months on the mother's back, 

 they keep in training as agile gymnasts with- 

 out taking any nourishment. It is familiar 

 exercise for them, after a fall, which fre- 

 quently occurs, to scramble up a leg of their 

 mount and nimbly to resume their place in the 

 saddle. They expend energy without receiv- 

 ing any material sustenance. 



The sons of the Clotho, the Labyrinth 

 Spider and many others confront us with the 

 same riddle : they move, yet do not eat. At 

 any period of the nursery stage, even in the 

 heart of winter, on the bleak days of January, 



377 



