146 A NATURALIST IN HIMALAYA 



always remains at the very centre. I showed the 

 row of pellets to a friend, and told him that one of 

 them was a living spider. I asked him to select it, 

 and offered a wager that he would not be correct in 

 his selection. After a close scrutiny of the snare, he 

 at length selected one of the pellets furthest away 

 from the spider, and was then very surprised to see 

 the central pellet climb out along the snare as soon as 

 I touched it. 



I have even thought that the theory of protective 

 resemblance might be applied to the snare itself. A 

 circular snare, when spread over a pool, resembles 

 sometimes a series of circular ripples flowing outward 

 on the water from a central point. Flies are con- 

 tinually alighting on these placid pools, and throw the 

 smooth surface into circular ripples as though a pebble 

 was dropped into the water. I have often been 

 deceived by these ripples into the belief that I had 

 discovered a circular snare, and I expect that an 

 enthusiastic supporter of the theory of protective 

 resemblances would claim this similarity as of great 

 advantage to the spider, by deceiving the sharp eyes 

 of insectivorous birds. But to my mind this would 

 be only a fanciful belief. 



The special senses of animals, their potency and 

 even their very existence, have often supplied a wide 

 field for experiment and discussion. I wished to 

 satisfy myself as to the presence and activity of these 

 senses in the geometrical spiders. 



I made some experiments to test the sense of taste 

 in spiders. I placed a large fly in a strong solution of 

 quinine and gently laid it on the snare of an Araneus. 

 Now, whenever an Araneus captured a small insect it 



