220 SUPPLEMENT TO 



that when I sprinkled the nest with water, as it was 

 my custom to do every morning, the tube, which had 

 become somewhat flaccid since it had lost its attach- 

 ment to the gauze, gradually recovered its perfect 

 shape. This was repeated for eleven days, until on the 

 morning of the twelfth day (January 31st), finding 

 the tube completely collapsed, instead of merely 

 sprinkling water over it, I drew a large camel-hair 

 brush loaded with, water along its whole length, when 

 the tube started up, and almost instantaneously re- 

 gained its cylindrical form. 



This morning the spider had left her cell, and was 

 roaming about the pot when I wetted the tube, thus 

 proving that she was in no way concerned with its 

 movements, whicli were no doubt due to hygrometric 

 action. 



Between this time and February 25th, I constantly 

 restored the tube to its shape by wetting it in the 

 way above described, but on this day it remained very 

 flaccid, and only expanded partially. For some days 

 previous to this date, the spider had left the tube when 

 it collapsed, and only returned to it again when it had 

 resumed its shape. On the following day I found 

 the entire silk tube and the cell again collapsed and 

 lying flat upon the ground, and this time water failed 

 to produce its previous effect. 



The spider then became very restless and excited, 

 and I observed that the door of one of the little nests 

 constructed by one of her five offspring which had 

 been imprisoned in the same pot with her, had been torn 

 oflT, and thrown on one side, and there could be little 

 doubt but that the mother had been guilty of this 

 very un-maternal action. By the evening she had 



