CH. XIV.] THE SPIDER. 241 



spider conveys it at once to the place of slaughter ; 

 and, having- at its leisure sucked all its juice, throws 

 out the carcass. If the insect, being somewhat 

 larger in size, should struggle to escape, the spider, 

 with surprising - address and agility, envelopes its 

 prey in a mesh of threads passed round its body in 

 various directions ; both its wings and legs being by 

 these means effectually secured, it is then conveyed 

 to the den, and devoured. Sometimes a bee, or 

 large fly, too powerful to be mastered by the spider, 

 happens to get entangled in its toils ; in this case, 

 the wary animal, conscious of its incapacity to con- 

 tend against such fearful odds, makes no attempt 

 either to seize or embarrass the intruder: on the 

 contrary, it assists the entangled captive in its efforts 

 to free itself, and often goes so far as to break off 

 that part of the net/rom which it maybe suspended ; 

 apparently content to get rid of so unwelcome and 

 unwieldy a customer at any sacrifice. 



In the fen ditches of Norfolk, a large spider has 

 been found, which actually forms a raft for the pur- 

 pose of obtaining its prey with more facility. It 

 first constructs a ball of weeds about three inches 

 in diameter. Taking its station upon this floating 

 island, it glides along upon the surface of the water; 

 the moment it sees a. drowning insect, it pounces 

 upon it, not, as it may be well imagined, for the pur- 

 pose of aiding its escape, but of hastening its 

 destruction. The body thus obtained is then con- 

 veyed upon the floating raft, where it is devoured at 

 leisure. 



The spider has many enemies ; and hence its 

 web is always in danger of being deranged and 

 damaged ; to meet this inconvenience, nature has 

 furnished the insect with a magazine of materials 

 for occasional repairs, and which, although fre- 

 quently exhausted, still continues to be replenished ; 

 this reservoir, however, is drained in time. When 

 spiders grow old, their supply of gum is dried up ; 

 I.— X 



