SPINNING OEOANS OF AKANEID.E. 



381 



him, either before or after the consummation of his purpose, did he not 

 exercise the most guarded caution and circumspection in making his 

 advances. 



Fig. 192. 



A. Female Spider. B. Male of the same species. C. Arrangement of the eyes. 



(978.) One peculiar characteristic of the Araneidae is the possession of 

 a spinning apparatus, whereby the threads composing their web are manu- 

 factured. The instruments employed for this purpose are situated near 

 the posterior extremity of the abdomen (fig. 194 a , h), and consist exter- 

 nally of four spinnerets and two palpiform organs (fig. 193, A, B). Each 



Fig. 193. 



Spinning apparatus of the Spider. 



spinneret, when highly magnified, is found to be perforated at its extre- 

 mity by innumerable orifices of extreme minuteness (fig. 193, c), through 

 which the filaments are drawn ; so that, unlike the silk of the Cater- 

 pillar, the thread of the Spider, delicate as it is, is composed of hundreds 



