CH. XIV.] THE SPIDER. 23 



such tenuity, although placed beyond all doubt by 

 Leuwenhoek's microscopical observations, our ima- 

 gination is too faint to form even a conception : our 

 faculties are overwhelmed by a consciousness of 

 the imperfection of our senses, when used for the 

 purpose of scrutinizing the works of nature. An 

 experiment may be easily made with one of our 

 large field-spiders, which will convince the observer 

 that this calculation, although very wonderful, is 

 still accurate. If the abdomen of one of these 

 spiders be pressed against a leaf, the same prelimi- 

 nary step which the spider adopts in spinning, and 

 drawn gradually to a small distance, it will be in- 

 stantly perceived that the proper thread of the in- 

 sect is formed of four smaller threads, and these 

 again of threads so fine and numerous, that the num- 

 ber issuing from each spinner cannot be estimated 

 under a thousand. The Author of nature has also 

 conferred upon the spider the power of closing the 

 orifices of the spinners at its pleasure. This ena- 

 bles the insect, when dropping from a height by its 

 line, to arrest its descent at any point of its down- 

 ward progress, and remain suspended in mid-air. 



The situations which spiders select for the con- 

 struction of their nets are extremely various. Some 

 prefer the open air, and place them in a horizontal, 

 a vertical, or oblique direction, among shrubs or 

 plants much resorted to by flies and other small in- 

 sects ; others spread their toils in the corners of 

 windows and rooms where prey always abounds ; 

 while many construct their nets in stables and de- 

 serted dwellings, which, at first sight, hold out no 

 great promise of plunder. ^ 



When a house-spider intends to begin a web, it 

 selects some recess, as the corner of a chamber or 

 piece of furniture, into which it may retreat under its 

 web, and secure to itself, either upwards or down- 

 wards, a passage to escape from any danger with 

 which it may be threatened. It then presses its 

 U2 



