344 T^^^ ^if^ of the Spider 



convex surface of the pocket hang long chaplets 

 of grains of sand strung together with slender 

 silken cords. To these sandy stalactites, which 

 form a bushy beard, are added a few heavy 

 lumps hung separately and lower down, at the 

 end of a thread. The whole is a piece of ballast- 

 work, an apparatus for ensuring equilibrium 

 and tension. 



The present edifice, hastily constructed in the 

 space of a night, is the frail rough sketch of what 

 the home will afterwards become. Successive 

 layers will be added to it ; and the partition- 

 wall will grow into a thick blanket capable of 

 partly retaining, by its own weight, the requisite 

 curve and capacity. The Spider now abandons 

 the stalactites of sand, which were used to keep 

 the original pocket stretched, and confines 

 herself to dumping down on her abode any 

 more or less heavy object, mainly corpses of 

 insects, because she need not look for these and 

 finds them ready to hand after each meal. They 

 are weights, not trophies ; they take the place 

 of materials that must otherwise be collected 

 from a distance and hoisted to the top. In this 

 way, a breastwork is obtained that strengthens 



