No. 2.] MENTAL POWERS OF SPIDERS. 393 



We shall now give a series of notes which describe an attempt 

 to teach a very interesting and docile little female spider of the 

 species Cyclosa conica Menge to listen composedly to the vibra- 

 tion of the tuning-fork. We first saw her on July 18, when we 

 marked her with a spot of scarlet paint, that there might be no 

 question of mistaken identity ; and by the time that we lost her, a 

 month later, we had come to have a very friendly interest in all 

 that concerned her. Her web was about five feet from the 

 ground, in the branches of a cedar-tree. Across it was stretched 

 a line of bits of rubbish, dead insects, and cocoons, and in the 

 middle of this stood the little spider, bearing so close a resem- 

 blance, in color and shape, to the other parts of the line that 

 she was almost indistinguishable. So perfect was the mimicry, 

 that even after we had visited her day after day for weeks, we 

 frequently thought, at the first glance, that our spider was gone. 



Her record stands as follows : — 



July 18. — C. conica fell from the web three times when the 

 vibrating C fork was held one inch away. Further efforts failed 

 to move her. 



July 19. — Used the B fork. She fell five times in succes- 

 sion, — only short distances the fourth and fifth times, — after 

 which she would not leave the web. 



jfuly 20. — She fell nine times before becoming accustomed 

 to the C fork ; the last three times she dropped only two or 

 three inches, and hung at the end of the line. 



July 2\. — After falling six times she paid no attention to 

 the sound. 



July 22. — After falling six times became accustomed to the 

 sound, and would not leave the web. 



July 24. — A day having elapsed without a lesson she fell 

 eleven times before becoming accustomed to the sound. 



July 25. — Dropped from her web six times as the fork was 

 held near; after that, paid no attention to it. 



July 26. — Dropped only five times before becoming accus- 

 tomed to the vibration. 



July 29. — Dropped seven times, and then became indifferent. 



July 31. — Dropped eleven times before refusing to move. 



August I. — Dropped seven times, and then remained undis- 

 turbed by the sound. 



August 2. — She dropped fifteen times, and then refused to 



