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have examined, were tenanted by the female alone. 

 It seems strange that this spider, building as she 

 does a nest apparently but poorly furnished either for 

 concealment or defence, should be able to enter into 

 competition with N. camentaria, whose solid, closely- 

 fitting door appears so perfectly contrived for both. 

 It will probably be found, however, when we are better 

 acquainted with their respective ways of life, that 

 they are really more nearly on a footing than they 

 seem to be at first sight. I detected the remains of 

 ants and the elytra of a beetle in one of these branched 

 single-door nests. Now these may also be found in 

 cork nests, so that Nemesia suffiisa evidently competes 

 with Cfsmentaria for its food, and this is of course the 

 main cause of contention between all living creatures. 



It is possible, that, if we knew all the uses to 

 which the branch is put by the spider which con- 

 structs it, we should find that the advantages derived 

 in the way of security from the existence of this 

 second passage, counterbalance those possessed by 

 the cork nest, which, though so perfectly closed, has 

 only the one tube, and no other possible way of 

 escape. 



It may perhaps be no more than a coincidence, but 

 we can scarcely avoid commenting upon the fact, 

 that, just as this Montpellier wafer nest is simpler in 

 construction than any found along the liiviera, so in 

 like manner is the Bordeaux nest simpler than that 

 of Montpellier. It thus becomes tempting to ask 

 whether, in the case of these wafer nests, we shall 

 not discover that the colder and damper climates are 

 the homes of the builders of the simpler types, while 

 the warmer and drier ones, where more food, more 



