130 The Life of the Spider 



tion to them to come and recruit themselves, 

 nor put any broken victuals aside for them. 

 She feeds and the others look on, or rather 

 remain indifferent to what is happening. Their 

 perfect quiet during the Lycosa's feast points 

 to the possession of a stomach that knows no 

 cravings. 



Then with what are they sustained, during 

 their seven months' upbringing on the mother's 

 back ? One conceives a notion of exudations 

 supplied by the bearer's body, in which case 

 the young would feed on their mother, after the 

 manner of parasitic vermin, and gradually drain 

 her strength. 



We must abandon this notion. Never are 

 they seen to put their mouths to the skin that 

 should be a sort of teat to them. On the other 

 hand, the Lycosa, far from being exhausted and 

 shrivelling, keeps perfectly well and plump. 

 She has the same pot-belly when she finishes 

 rearing her young as when she began. She has 

 not lost weight : far from it ; on the contrary, 

 she has put on flesh : she has gained the where- 

 withal to beget a new family next summer, one 

 as numerous as to-day's. 



