230 The Life of the Spider 



would show in swallowing her prey. Nothing 

 remains. This is the second instance of the 

 Spiders' supreme economy of their silk. We 

 have seen them, after the manufacture of the 

 net, eating the central guide-post, a modest 

 mouthful ; we now see them gobbling up the 

 whole web, a meal. Refined and turned into 

 fluid by the stomach, the materials of the old 

 net will serve for other purposes. 



As soon as the site is thoroughly cleared, the 

 work of the frame and the net begins on the sup- 

 port of the suspension-cable which was respected. 

 Would it not be simpler to restore the old web, 

 which might serve many times yet, if a few rents 

 were just repaired ? One would say so ; but 

 does the Spider know how to patch her work, as a 

 thrifty housewife darns her linen ? That is the 

 question. 



To mend severed meshes, to replace broken 

 threads, to adjust the new to the old, in short, 

 to restore the original order by assembling the 

 wreckage would be a far-reaching feat of 

 prowess, a very fine proof of gleams of intelli- 

 gence, capable of performing rational calcula- 

 tions. Our menders excel in this class of work. 



