THE SPIDERS 157 



of all colors. The uncommon pill is as readily accepted 

 and as jealously guarded as the others. 



The Family 



For three weeks and more the Lycosa trails the bag 

 of eggs hanging to her spinnerets. The reader will re- 

 member the experiments described in the preceding sec- 

 tion, particularly those with the cork ball and the thread 

 pellet which the Spider so foolishly accepts in exchange 

 for the real pill. Well, this exceedingly dull-witted 

 mother, satisfied with aught that knocks against her heels, 

 is about to make us wonder at her devotion. 



Whether she come up from her shaft to lean upon the 

 kerb and bask in the sun, whether she suddenly retire 

 underground in the face of danger, or whether she be 

 roaming the country before settling down, never does she 

 let go her precious bag, that very cumbrous burden in 

 walking, climbing or leaping. If, by some accident, it 

 become detached from the fastening to which it is hung, 

 she flings herself madly on her treasure and lovingly em- 

 braces it, ready to bite whoso would take it from her. 

 I myself am sometimes the thief. I then hear the points 

 of the poison-fangs grinding against the steel of my 

 pincers, which tug in one direction while the Lycosa tugs 

 in the other. But let us leave the animal alone : with a 

 quick touch of the spinnerets, the pill is restored to its 

 place; and the Spider strides off, still menacing. 



Towards the end of summer, all the householders, old 

 or young, whether in captivity on the window-sill or at 

 liberty in the paths of the enclosure, supply me daily with 



