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perpendicular thread, and draws out the new one as she proceeds till she reaches 
the upper line, which she runs along to the spot which she sees fit to fix a radiating 
line to the web. She then returns to the centre and repeats the same process each 
time walking up the last formed radiating thread till the whole area is filled with 
radiating lines. In some instances the spider forms the radiating lines on the 
opposite sides of the web alternately. Having finished the radiating lines, she 
now begins the spiral lines, or the meshes of the net. She goes to the centre 
of the web, fixes a thread; she then turns round, drawing the. viscid fluid from 
the spinnerets, which she attaches to the radiating lines with the assistance of the 
hind legs. She goes further and further from the middle, until the spiral line - 
extends to the circumference of the web, where she places another thread and 
reverses her method of working by drawing a second spiral line from the cireum- 
ference to the centre. From her nest a strong line runs to the centre of the web, 
this web not only forms a path but tells her when a victim is caught, the motion of 
the line caused by its struggles being thereby communicated to her in her home— 
‘The spider’s touch, how exquisitely fine, 
Lives in each thread, and feels along the line.” 
It is well known that spiders leave the nest and make snares for themselves when 
very young. An eminent naturalist states that a young epeira seven weeks old 
makes a web the size of a penny which has the same beautiful symmetry as that 
of a full grown spider. And the question is asked—Do the young spiders build 
their first nest by instinct? that is tosay, independently of all teaching or personal 
experience, or do they copy the nests in which they were hatched? But there is 
no doubt they are taught by instinct from observations that have been made. 
Spiders keep their webs remarkably clean, otherwise, owing to the viscid 
portions of the spiral threads, they would be very often stuck over with foreign 
substances, which would in all probability warn the flies of their danger, therefore 
the spider is generally found cleaning or strengthening the web. If there is too 
large a piece of rubbish in the web for her to clear away, she cuts the meshes out 
which contain it, and drops it all to the ground. At other times, finding some of 
the threads very dirty, she rolls them up in a small compass, and drops them out 
of the web to the ground. When she lets herself down by a line to ascertain the 
strength of the web, or the nature of the place below her, on her return she always 
coils the line into a little ball and flings it away, and her claws, as we have seen, 
are beautifully adapted for these purposes. 
To watch the female house-spider prepare her nest, or cocoon, for her eggs, 
is very interesting. Nearly, if not all, the species cover their eggs with silk, 
forming a round ball. The mother spider uses her body to measure the size and 
form of her nest in the same way as abird does. She first spreads a thin coating of 
silk as a foundation, taking care to have this circular by turning her body round 
and round during the process. In the same way she spins a raised border round 
this foundation, till it takes the shape of acup. She now begins to lay her eggs 
in the cup, and not being content merely to fill it even with the top of the cup, she 
piles up a large round ball of eggs as high as the cup is deep. The under half 
is covered and protected by the silken sides of the cup, but the upper eggs are still 
