222 The Life of the Spider 



venient height. The foot-bridge erected with 

 my assistance is considered satisfactory, just as 

 though the wind had placed it. I count this 

 collaboration among the good actions standing 

 to my credit. 



Feeling her thread fixed, the Epeira runs along 

 it repeatedly, from end to end, adding a fibre 

 to it on each journey. Whether I help or not, 

 this forms the * suspension-cable,' the main 

 piece of the frame-work. I call it a cable, in 

 spite of its extreme thinness, because of its 

 structure. It looks as though it were single, 

 but, at the two ends, it is seen to divide and 

 spread, tuft-wise, into numerous constituent 

 parts, which are the product of as many cross- 

 ings. These diverging fibres, with their several 

 contact-points, increase the steadiness of the 

 two extremities. 



The suspension-cable is incomparably stronger 

 than the rest of the work and lasts for an in- 

 definite time. The web is generally shattered 

 after the night's hunting and is nearly always 

 rewoven on the following evening. After the 

 removal of the wreckage, it is made all over 

 again, on the same site, cleared of everything 



