OCTOBER, 1882. 235 



as it once more approaches this we again breathe upon 

 the thread and spider. The proceeding is repeated, the 

 spider dropping like a flash, and the spot where it left 

 being again represented by a little white puff. The 

 creature evidently is quite aware of the effect of wind to 

 send its web floating through the air, but being resolved 

 on this occasion to remain where it was, it at once went 

 down to the ground and held the line taut. The light 

 was such that we saw every strain upon the line as the 

 spider ascended, for these little puffs bobbed up and 

 down as if the line were india-rubber, exemplifying the 

 very elastic character of the thread. We have generally 

 found these webs most numerous on those mornings 

 when the air was calm and the atmosphere somewhat 

 heavy just such weather as precedes rain and wind. 

 The reason for this may be that gnats and flies are all 

 low among the grass and amid the vegetation at such 

 times, and also because the light "airs" that are then 

 abroad float the threads gently, while stronger or more 

 severe whiffs of wind would blow them to fragments. 



We find a tangle with the bottom cupped away, and 

 in the very centre of the depression a specimen of the 

 peculiar variety of Helcion called Icevis. This is the first 

 we have obtained, and we had been informed it was 

 mainly an East Coast variety, although Jeffrey says it is 

 composed of the older individuals who had descended the 

 tangle and given themselves up to a life of laziness and 

 gormandising. Clearly, it was a lazy vagabond, and 

 ho ! of course it is, and here is the result, for has it not 

 proved an asylum for a parasite who has at least shared 

 its "mantle," if it has not sucked its juices? A little 

 crustacean of the sandhopper class comes reluctantly 



