206 SUPPLEMENT TO 



nities of watcMng lier. Sometimes, if not alarmed 

 by any sudden movement, she would remain for one 

 or two minutes at the mouth of the nest with the 

 door partly raised, and I was glad to seize these 

 opportunities for making some experiments, with a 

 view to learning whether she would prove as sensitive 

 to sound as she did to other vibrations and to the 

 sight of moving objects. 



Placing myself so that the partly-opened door 

 screened me from her view, I was able to approach 

 close to the nest without causing her alarm, and to 

 make different sounds and noises at distances varying 

 from three to fourteen inches. 



In no case, however, did she pay the slightest 

 attention; and neither shrill and sudden whistling, 

 deep chest and buzzing sounds, an octave of piercing 

 notes struck upon brass bells, my best imitation of 

 the whirring of the fern owl, or finally, the angry 

 hum of a large humble-bee imprisoned in a paper 

 box, and held within three inches of the door of the 

 nest, appeared to produce any kind of effect. This 

 surprised me, I confess, for, though I am aware that 

 no auditory apparatus has as yet been discovered in 

 spiders, I can scarcely believe that they stand at so 

 great a disadvantage as creatures would seem to do 

 which lack the power of hearing. 



These experiments must not, however, be taken 

 for more than they are worth ; and the results 

 obtained may have been due rather to apathy in the 

 individual spider than to a want of perception in 

 the race generally. In any case they suggest the 

 need of further experiment and observation in this 

 direction. 



