56 The Life of a Spider 



alters the raw material : it was turning out 

 white silk ; it now furnishes reddish-brown 

 silk, finer than the other and issuing in clouds 

 which the hind-legs, those dexterous carders, 

 beat into a sort of froth. The egg-pocket 

 disappears, drowned in this exquisite wadding. 



The balloon-shape is already outlined ; the 

 top of the work tapers to a neck. The Spider, 

 moving up and down, tacking first to one side 

 and then to the other, from the very first spray 

 marks out the graceful form as accurately as 

 though she carried a compass in her abdomen. 



Then, once again, with the same suddenness, 

 the material changes. The white silk reappears, 

 wrought into thread. This is the moment to 

 weave the outer wrapper. Because of the 

 thickness of the stuff and the density of its 

 texture, this operation is the longest of the series. 



First, a few threads are flung out, hither and 

 thither, to keep the layer of wadding in position. 

 The Epeira takes special pains with the edge 

 of the neck, where she fashions an indented 

 border, the angles of which, prolonged with 

 cords or lines, form the main support of the 

 building. The spinnerets never touch this part 



