224 T^^^ ^if^ of ^^^ spider 



and the whole thread, when unfurled, doubles 

 its length, which is now enough for the purpose. 

 It is fastened by the end joined to the Spider ; 

 the other floats in the air, with its spreading 

 tuft, which easily tangles in the bushes. Even 

 so must the Banded Epeira go to work when she 

 throws her daring suspension-bridge across a 

 stream. 



Once the cable is laid, in this way or in that, 

 the Spider is in possession of a base that allows 

 her to approach or withdraw from the leafy 

 piers at will. From the height of the cable, 

 the upper boundary of the projected works, she 

 lets herself slip to a slight depth, varying the 

 points of her fall. She climbs up again by the 

 line produced by her descent. The result of the 

 operation is a double thread which is unwound 

 while the Spider walks along her big foot-bridge 

 to the contact-branch, where she fixes the free 

 end of her thread more or less low down. In 

 this way, she obtains, to right and left, a few 

 slanting cross-bars, connecting the cable with 

 the branches. 



These cross-bars, in their turn, support others 

 in ever-changing directions. When there are 



