352 The Life of the Spider 



The facts observed are confined to this change 

 of dwelHng. I regret that other interests and 

 the difficulties attendant upon a long upbringing 

 did not allow me to pursue the question and 

 definitely to settle the matter of the repeated 

 layings and the longevity of the Clotho, as I did 

 in that of the Lycosa. 



Before taking leave of this Spider, let us 

 glance at a curious problem which has already 

 been set by the Lycosa's offspring. When carried 

 for seven months on the mother's back, they keep 

 in training as agile gymnasts without taking any 

 nourishment. It is a familiar exercise for them, 

 after a fall, which frequently occurs, to scramble 

 up a leg of their mount and nimbly to resume 

 their place in the saddle. They expend energy 

 without receiving any material sustenance. 



The sons of the Clotho, the Labyrinth Spider 

 and many others confront us with the same 

 riddle : they move, yet do not eat. At any 

 period of the nursery stage, even in the heart 

 of winter, on the bleak days of January, I tear 

 the pockets of the one and the tabernacle of the 

 other, expecting to find the swarm of youngsters 

 lying in a state of complete inertia, numbed by 



