416 FOOD OF INSECTS. 



How far these suppositions are correct it is impossible 

 to determine without further experiments, which it is 

 somewhat strange should not before now have been in- 

 stituted. Pliny thought it nothing to the credit of the 

 philosophers of his day, that while they were disputing 

 about the number of heroes of tlie name of Hercules, 

 and the site of the sepulchre of Bacchus, they should not 

 have decided whether the queen bee had a sting or not*; 

 but it seems much more discreditable to the entomolo- 

 gists of ours, that they should yet be ignorant how the 

 geometric spiders fix their nets. One excuse for them 

 is, that these insects generally begin their operations in 

 the night, so that, though it is very easy to see them 

 spinning their concentric circles, it is seldom that they 

 can be caught laying the foundations of their snares. Yet 

 doubtless the lucky moment might be hit by an atten- 

 tive observer, and I shall be glad if my attempt to de- 

 scribe their more ordinary operations should induce you 

 to aim at signalizing yourself by the discovery. If you 

 failed in solving every difficulty, you would at least be 

 rewarded by witnessing their industry, ingenuity, and 

 patience. 



For the latter virtue they have no small occasion. In- 

 capable of actively pursuing their prey, they are depen- 

 dent upon what chance conducts into their toils, which, 

 especially those spread in neglected buildings, often re- 

 main for a long period empty. Even the geometrical 

 spiders, which fix themselves in the midst of a well-peo- 

 pled district in the open air, have frequently to sustain 

 a protracted abstinence. A continued storm of wind 

 and rain will demolish their nets, and preclude the pos- 

 " Plin. Hiit. Nat.\.\i. c. 17. 



