146 The Life of the Spider 



a shallow saucer of sufficient thickness to dis- 

 pense with subsequent corrections. The process 

 is easily guessed. The tip of the abdomen goes 

 up and down, down and up, with an even beat, 

 while the worker shifts her place a little. Each 

 time, the spinnerets add a bit of thread to the 

 carpet already made. 



When the requisite thickness is obtained, the 

 mother empties her ovaries, in one continuous 

 flow, into the centre of the bowl. Glued 

 together by their inherent moisture, the eggs, 

 of a handsome orange-yellow, form a ball- 

 shaped heap. The work of the spinnerets is 

 resumed. The ball of germs is covered with 

 a silk cap, fashioned in the same way as 

 the saucer. The two halves of the work are 

 so well joined that the whole constitutes an 

 unbroken sphere. 



The Banded Epeira and the Silky Epeira, 

 those experts in the manufacture of rainproof 

 textures, lay their eggs high up, on brushwood 

 and bramble, without shelter of any kind. The 

 thick material of the wallets is enough to protect 

 the eggs from the inclemencies of the winter, 

 especially from damp. The Diadem Epeira, or 



