41 8 PECKHAM. [Vol. i. 



mother would take the cocoon of another — although of a dif- 

 ferent genus — just as quickly as she would her own. On one 

 occasion we gave the cocoon of Pardosa pallida to Lycosa{s'i^.}'), 

 and in a few minutes removed it from this spider to give it to 

 Pirata piraticiis, and the foster-mothers seemed fully as devoted 

 to the eggs as the real mother. 



To test still further their general intelligence, we took the 

 outer coat from a cocoon of pallida and slipped it over a lead 

 shot of the same size, but at least three or four times as heavy. 

 There was so little of the cover left after the operation that we 

 could scarcely perceive any difference between it and an uncov- 

 ered shot. We offered it to the spider, and, much to our sur- 

 prise, she at once seized it, and, after a good deal of trouble, 

 succeeded in fastening it to the under side of the abdomen. 

 Our impression that we had entirely demolished the cover in 

 getting it over the shot must have been an error, since otherwise 

 she could scarcely have attached it by means of the lines of web. 

 The load was so heavy that the spider could only with great dif- 

 ficulty, and moving very slowly, walk up the side of a board. 

 While transferring her to another box the shot, from its weight, 

 fell from her abdomen, and she spent over thirty minutes, work- 

 ing with all her might, in fastening it on again. She had taken 

 only five or six steps when it again fell off, and she then carried 

 it about bet^veen the fakes and the third pair of legs. We next 

 endeavored to induce a second specimen of this species to take 

 a plaiii shot, but all our efforts failed. We then took away the 

 web-covered shot from the first specimen, and offered her in its 

 stead the plain shot, but this she stubbornly refused, so that 

 after a little we returned to her the web-covered shot, which 

 she took back with every evidence of tender emotion. 



Having satisfied ourselves that a Lycosid had not sufficient in- 

 telligence to distinguish between a pith-ball or even a heavy shot 

 and its own cocoon, we made some experiments to determine 

 whether it had intelligence enough to choose its cocoon if we of- 

 fered the cocoon and the pith-ball together. To test this we placed 

 the two side by side. The spider, approaching from one side, 

 first touched the pith-ball and at once seized it with her falces ; 

 but as she moved away one of her anterior legs came into con- 

 tact with the cocoon. In this position she remained quiet for a 

 minute or two, and then dropping the pith-ball she took up her 



