THE MA(;XIFICEXT SI'IDKR : DK'ROS'J'iCil IS .M AGXIFKT.S. 95 



and then from bottom to to]x on the other side, head upwards. 

 It supported itself by gripping the eocoon with its legs mean- 

 w hile. Against the light the minute «ilk threads issuing from 

 the spinnerets could be seen as a sliining band of conjoined 

 lines. The legs were in no wa}- used to manipulate the threads, 

 but the body was moved up and down, up and down, making 

 a stroke of about three-eighths of an inch. One touch of the 

 protruding spinnerets on the cocoon sufficed to attach the 

 strands. The spider moved with surprising quickness?, its 

 spinning stroke varying from about 60 to 80 spins per minute. 

 During its journey up and down the capsule 260 spinning 

 movements were- counted, and this represented but a single 

 narrow sector of the whole circumference. Some idea of the 

 energy expended by the toiling mother in her great work 

 may be gauged from these figures, and one Avonders at the 

 strength of the muscles which move the abdomen. With 

 haste and Anthout rest, the process was continued, and at 

 midnight the cocoon had attained its final contours. The 

 spinning on the outer surface then reached a finer stage, and 

 the glossy waterproofing was being done. Instead of working 

 in vertical lines, the threads were attached from side to side 

 as the spider made its way do\\n and then up the capsule. This 

 lateral movement was very noticeable, and the resultant 

 spinning added to the toughness of the material, giving a 

 criss-cross weaving. The whole surface of the cocoon had 

 been Avoven o\'er many times. 



By 1 o'clock the capsule Avas smooth and glossy, but the 

 spider was still Avorking up and down, making short spins 

 from its apparently inexhaustible reservoirs, the threads being 

 attached by lateral moA^ements of the abdomen. 



During the Avhole process up to this time, the spider and 

 cocoon AA'ere suspended by the tiny A^ertical cable A\hich 

 appeared to be perilously slender, and Avhich swayed AAith 

 cA^ery moA^ement of the spinning mother. At 1.30 the spider 

 A\ as Avorking at the upper half of the cocoon, Avhich it clcA-erlV 

 lotated through three-quarters of a circle as it spun, moving 

 the cocoon instead of its abdomen. At 1.45 it commenced to 

 strengthen the slender supporting strand, somcAvhat to the 

 reUef of the AvearA^ though keenly interested Avatchers. For 

 the next half -hour it Avorked at this joedvmcle, moving up and 

 doAvn and occasionally partly rotating it, getting a criss-cross 

 effect with its AAcaA'ing. It also climbed several times up among 

 the supporting horizontal strands adding to the attachments. 



