342 The Life of the Spider 



To rear the Clotho is not an arduous under- 

 taking ; we are not obliged to take the heavy 

 flagstone, on which the dwelhng is built, away 

 with us. A very simple operation suf&ces. I 

 loosen the fastenings with my pocket-knife. 

 The Spider has such stay-at-home ways that 

 she very rarely makes off. Besides, I use the 

 utmost discretion in my rape of the house. 

 And so I carry away the building, together with 

 its owner, in a paper bag. 



The flat stones, which are too heavy to move 

 and which would occupy too much room upon 

 my table, are replaced either by deal disks, which 

 once formed part of cheese-boxes, or by round 

 pieces of cardboard. I arrange each silken 

 hammock under one of these by itself, fastening 

 the angular projections, one by one, with strips 

 of gummed paper. The whole stands on three 

 short pillars and gives a very fair imitation of 

 the underrock shelter in the form of a small 

 dolmen. Throughout this operation, if you are 

 careful to avoid shocks and jolts, the Spider 

 remains indoors. Finally, each apparatus is 

 placed under a wire-gauze, bell-shaped cage, 

 which stands in a dish filled with sand. 



