THE FIRST DIVERS 2$ 



considerable tension. "When the spider dives, the stretched 

 silk line contracts and almost pulls the creature down to 

 its goal. If other bells are in the vicinity, the spider may 

 seize convenient moments to steal bits of air from these 

 atmosphere bins of its neighbors. 



When the bell is deep enough and the air supply suf- 

 ficient, the various submarine activities of the water 

 spider's life are assured. During the day it rests quietly in 

 the seclusion and excellent aeration of its chamber; from 

 nocturnal foraging expeditions the crustacean prey is 

 brought into the bell and there devoured; in this little at- 

 mospheric cosmos the spider makes its careful toilet, comb- 

 ing out and cleaning its all-important coat of air-snaring 

 hairs. When at last the air becomes foul, a hole is cut 

 through the roof and the exhausted bubble allowed to 

 escape. The rent is then rewoven tightly and a fresh sup- 

 ply of air brought down from the upper world. 



Courtship and mating take place in the bell and finally 

 the hundred-odd eggs are laid along the ceiling, hanging 

 like strings of onions and peppers in the hut of a peasant. 

 These are shut off by a partition into an egg-attic of sorts, 

 and when the young hatch they proceed at once to cut 

 their way out, often liberating part of the air in the proc- 

 ess, upsetting the bell and rather rudely capsizing their 

 parent on the ground floor. At the approach of winter 

 the water spider often closes the bottom of its bell and 

 spins itself in, its decreased hibernating respiration using 

 up but little of the enclosed supply of air. 



