XX The Life of the Spider 



ment somewhat difficult to believe in. There 

 must be something better than that. The 

 circular pieces of the lid suggest it to us. 



' If, by the mere flexion inherent in her 

 structure, the leaf-cutter succeeds in cutting 

 out ovals, how does she manage to cut out 

 rounds ? Can we admit the presence of other 

 wheels in the machinery for the new pattern, 

 so different in shape and size ? However, the 

 real point of the difficulty does not lie there. 

 Those rounds, for the most part, fit the mouth 

 of the bottle with almost exact precision. 

 When the cell is finished, the bee flies hundreds 

 of yards further to make the lid. She arrives 

 at the leaf from which the disk is to be cut. 

 What picture, what recollection has she of the 

 pot to be covered ? Why, none at all : she 

 has never seen it ; she works underground, in 

 profound darkness ! At the utmost, she can 

 have the indications of touch : not actual 

 indications, of course, for the pot is not there, 

 but past indications, ineffective in a work of 

 precision. And yet the disk must be of a fixed 

 diameter : if it were too large, it would not fit 

 in ; if too small, it would close badly, it would 



