Miscellaneous. 299 



spinning-work, so that the spider was entirely shut in. This cavitj' 

 was made against the glass side of the jar, and the movements of 

 the inmate were thus exposed to view. Shortly after the cave was 

 covered the spider was seen working upon a circular cushion of 

 heautiful white silk, about three fourths of an inch in diameter, 

 which was spun upwards in a nearly perpendicular position against 

 the earthen wall of the cave. The cushion looked so much like the 

 cocoon of the common tube-weaver, Agdena ncvvia, and the whole 

 operations of the Lycosa were so like those of that species when 

 cocooning, that the speaker was momentarily possessed with the 

 thought that he had mistaken the creature's identity altogether, and 

 again examined her carefully, only to be assured that sho was 

 indeed a Lycosa. After an absence of half an hour Dr. McCook re- 

 turned to find that in the interval the spider had oviposited against 

 the central part of the silken cushion and was then engaged in 

 enclosing the hemispherical egg-mass with a silken envelope. The 

 mode of spinning was as follows : — the feet clasped the circumference 

 of the cushion, and the body of the animal was slowly revolved : 

 the abdomen — now greatly reduced in size by the extrusion of the 

 eggs — was lifted up, thus drawing out short loops of silk from the 

 expanded spinnerets, which, when the abdomen was dropped ao'aiu. 

 contracted and left a flossy curl of silk at the point of attachment. 

 The abdomen was also swayed back and forwards, the filaments from 

 the spinnerets following the motion as the spider turned, and thus 

 an even thickness of silk was laid upon the eggs. The same be- 

 haviour marked the spinning of the silken button or cushion, in the 

 middle of which the eggs had been deposited. 



At this stage Dr. McCook left for an evening engagement, with 

 his ideas as to the cocooning habits of Lycosa very much confused 

 indeed by an observation so opposed to the universal experience. 

 Returning to his desk in an hour and a half he vtas once more 

 assured by the sight of a round silken ball dangling from the apex 

 of the spider's abdomen, held fast by short threads to the spin- 

 nerets. The cushion, however, had disappeared. 



The mystery (as it had seemed to him) was solved : the Lycosa, 

 after having placed her eggs in the centre of the silken cushion 

 and covered them over, had gathered up the edges and so united 

 them and rolled them as to make the normal globular cocoon of 

 her genus, which she at once tucked under her abdomen in the 

 usual way. This was a most interesting observation, and Dr. 

 McCook thought had not before been made ; at least Lycosa's 

 manner of fabricating a cocoon had been heretofore unknown tc^' 

 him ; and by reason of her subterranean habit the opportunity to 

 observe it was rare. He had often wondered how the round egg- 

 ball was put together, and the mechanical ingenuity and simplicity 

 of the method were now apparent. The period consumed in the 

 whole act of cocooning was less than four hours ; the act of ovi- 

 positing took less than half an hour. Shortly after the egg-sac 

 was finished the mother cut her way out of the silken cover. She 

 had evidently thus secluded herself for the purpose of spinnine- 



