The Climbing-Instinct 153 



Spider hunts trapper-fashion, ambushed in her 

 tower ; the young one hunts afoot through the 

 scrubby grass. In both cases there is no web 

 and therefore no need for lofty contact-points. 

 They are not allowed to quit the ground and 

 climb the heights. 



Yet here we have the young Lycosa, wishing 

 to leave the maternal abode and to travel far 

 afield by the easiest and swiftest methods, 

 suddenly becoming an enthusiastic climber. 

 Impetuously she scales the wire trellis of the 

 cage where she was born ; hurriedly she clambers 

 to the top of the tall mast which I have prepared 

 for her. In the same way, she would make for 

 the summit of the bushes in her waste-land. 



We catch a glimpse of her object. From on 

 high, finding a wide space beneath her, she 

 sends a thread floating. It is caught by the 

 wind and carries her hanging to it. We have 

 our aeroplanes ; she too possesses her flying- 

 machine. Once the journey is accomplished, 

 naught remains of this ingenious business. The 

 climbing-instinct comes suddenly, at the hour 

 of need, and no less suddenly vanishes. 



