58 The Life of a Spider 



and then the spinnerets really touch the fringed 

 edge. The length of contact is even con- 

 siderable. We find, therefore, that the thread 

 is stuck in this star-shaped fringe, the foundation 

 of the building and the crux of the whole, while 

 every elsewhere it is simply laid on, in a manner 

 determined by the movements of the hind- 

 legs. If we wished to unwind the work, the 

 thread would break at the margin ; at any 

 other point, it would unroll. 



The Epeira ends her web with a dead-white, 

 angular flourish ; she ends her nest with brown 

 mouldings, which run down, irregularly, from the 

 marginal junction to the bulging middle. For 

 this purpose, she makes use, for the third time, 

 of a different silk ; she now produces silk of a 

 dark hue, varying from russet to black. The 

 spinnerets distribute the material with a wide 

 longitudinal swing, from pole to pole ; and 

 the hind-legs apply it in capricious ribbons. 

 When this is done, the work is finished. The 

 Spider moves away with slow strides, without 

 giving a glance at the bag. The rest does 

 not interest her : time and the sun will see 

 to it. 



