34^ The Life of the Spider 



mately to take place in October. The sum 

 total of the eggs is divided into five or six small, 

 flat, lentiform pockets, which, taken together, 

 occupy the greater part of the maternal home. 

 These capsules have each their own partition- 

 wall of superb white satin, but they are so 

 closely soldered, both together and to the floor 

 of the house, that it is impossible to part them 

 without tearing them, impossible, therefore, to 

 obtain them separately. The eggs in all amount 

 to about a hundred. 



The mother sits upon the heap of pockets 

 with the same devotion as a brooding hen. 

 Maternity has not withered her. Although 

 decreased in bulk, she retains an excellent look 

 of health ; her round belly and her well-stretched 

 skin tell us from the first that her part is not yet 

 wholly played. 



The hatching takes place early. November 

 has not arrived before the pockets contain the 

 young : wee things clad in black, with five yellow 

 specks, exactly like their elders. The new-born 

 do not leave their respective nurseries. Packed 

 close together, they spend the whole of the 

 wintry season there, while the mother, squat- 



