24:^ 



The Ballooning Spiders. 



In warm autumn days, innumerable threads can be seen stream- 

 ing from fences, bushes, and the tips of stalks of grass, or floating 

 tlirough the air. These are made by the Ballooning 8piders^ which 

 are able to travel long distances, hundreds of miles, through the air 

 by means of these silken threads. 



The ballooning spider climbs to some elevated point, and then, 

 standing on the tips of its feet, lifts its body as high as it caii, and 

 spins out a thread of silk. This thread is carried up and away by 

 a current of air. When the thread is lono; enouo^h the force of the 

 air current on it is sutficient to bear the spider up. It then lets go 

 its hold Avith its feet and sails away. That these spiders travel long 

 distances in this manner has been shown by the fact that they have 

 been seen floating through the air at sea far from land. 



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