The Question of Property 2()^ 



game, as though nothing extraordinary had 

 happened. They do more than this. Days 

 pass and, as long as the unfamiHar web is not 

 wrecked to the extent of being unserviceable, 

 they make no attempt to weave another in their 

 own style. The Spider, therefore, is incapable 

 of recognizing her web. She takes another's 

 work for hers, even when it is produced by a 

 stranger to her race. 



We now come to the tragic side of this confu- 

 sion. Wishing to have subjects for study within 

 my daily reach and to save myself the trouble 

 of casual excursions, I collect different Epeirae 

 whom I find in the course of my walks and 

 establish them on the shrubs in my enclosure. 

 In this way, a rosemary-hedge, sheltered from 

 the wind and facing the sun, is turned into a 

 well-stocked menagerie. I take the Spiders 

 from the paper bags wherein I had put them 

 separately, to carry them, and place them on the 

 leaves, with no further precaution. It is for 

 them to make themselves at home. As a rule, 

 they do not budge all day from the place where 

 I put them : they wait for nightfall before 

 seeking a suitable site whereon to weave a net. 



