22 JOURNAL OF THE 



lifting the tube from the soil I could observe the position of 

 the spider as it held down its door. The experiment was a 

 decided success. 



This was prepared at eleven o'clock on the night of Dec. 

 27, '85. Pieces of moss were strewn about the tube. By 

 morning a perfectly fitting door, beautifully covered with 

 moss had been constructed (Plate XXtV. Fig. 3). About 

 this time many visitors came to see the spider, and in pulling 

 at the door to show how persistently she would resist its 

 being opened, the hing became loosened, and the door was 

 pulled down upon her. She held on to the door with such 

 tenacity that I pulled it into bits in my efforts to remove it 

 from her grasp. It was removed Dec. 30, '85, and on the 

 following night she built another as neatly as the first. The 

 hinge to this became loosened and the door moved down 

 about 5™-"i- from the mouth of the tube. Here she strength- 

 ened the hinge by spinning a broad piece of silk, the width 

 of the hinge, from the door down on to the wall of the tube. 

 Several times in endeavoring to open the door I tore pieces 

 from its edge and in every instance the spider repaired it. 

 Finally, when I wished to remove her from the tube I was 

 obliged to push up on the cork bottom, and in this way 

 crowd her out through the door. After this was done it was 

 with some difficulty that she freed her posterior feet from 

 the silk bag which she had constructed at the bottom, so 

 firmly did she hold on. 



I have this yet to add. In a note I have mentioned the 

 wandering of the spider about in a jar of freshly prepared 

 earth, Jan. 16. For three days she has been restless, and 

 though several attempts have been made to dig a tube she 

 has failed. I came to the conclusion that the soil was not 

 such as she could work easily or satisfactorily. Wishing to 

 have soil which would make a more desirable tube than the 

 loose soil in which I saw the first nest made, I used a large 

 proportion of fine plastering sand mixed with black earth. 

 This was wetted, and pieces of moss strewn over the surface. 

 She tried several times to take up pellets of the earth, but 

 seemed to be disgusted with its crumbling. She then tried 

 to bore a hole by pushing down with her mandibles while 

 turning her body around. She evidently wished to hide her 

 head from the light, for after making a hole 2"^"' deep she re- 

 mained with her head at the bottom. To-day, Jan. 14, '86, 

 the soil in the woods having thawed sufficiently 1 prepared a 

 jar of moist, ferruginous clay, very much like that of which 



