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ROADSIDE LIFE. 22/ 



its feet and sails away. That these spiders travel 

 long distances in this manner has been shown by the 

 fact that they have been seen floating through the air 

 at sea far from land. 



A NOISELESS, PATIENT SPIDER. 



A noiseless, patient spider, 



I mark'd where, on a little promontory, it stood isolated ; 

 Mark'd how, to explore the vacant, vast surrounding, 

 It launch'd forth filament, filament, filament out of itself; 

 Ever unreeling them — ever tirelessly speeding them. 



And you, O my soul, where you stand, 



Surrounded, surrounded, in measureless oceans of space. 



Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing — seeking the spheres, to 



connect them ; 

 Till the bridge you will need be form'd— till the ductile anchor 



hold; 

 Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul. 



Walt Whitman. 



THE COBWEB-WEAVERS. 



Many are the kinds of webs spun by different 

 spiders. Some of them, as the orb-webs and the 

 funnel-webs, delight us with their wonderful regular- 

 ity of form, while others appear to be a mere shape- 

 less maze of threads. Such are the structures whose 

 presence in the corners of our rooms torment thrifty 

 housewives, and which are disrespectfully termed 

 cobwebs. 



Although the house spiders are the most familiar 

 members of this family, the greater number of spe- 

 cies spin their webs in the fields on bushes. These 

 webs usually consist of a flat or curved sheet, under 

 which the spider hangs back downward. This sheet 



