92 THE BROOK BOOK 



ports which are to bear the web. Some spiders 

 are said to accomplish this by spinning a thread at 

 random, trusting to Providence that it will catch 

 in some convenient place. While this seems a 

 rather unscientific method, I have no doubt that it 

 serves quite as well as any other, since the spider 

 seems to be entirely capable of making use of the 

 thread no matter where it catches. When once a 

 guy-line is established, all random work seems to 

 end. 



The silk issues from the silk -glands in the 

 spider's body, through minute tubes on the spin- 

 nerets. By looking closely at the under side of 

 the large orb-weaver's abdomen, near the hind- 

 most end I could see the spinnerets. The spinning 

 tubes, which are very numerous, cannot be seen 

 with the unaided .eye. In liquid form when they 

 issue from the body, the many delicate streams ol 

 silk unite into one cord and harden when in con- 

 tact with the air. To attach the thread at any 

 point, the spider touches the tip of its body to the 

 spot. The silk, still semi-liquid, clings and hardens 

 in place almost instantly. 



From the first guy-line the weaver spins others, 

 sometimes walking down the side of her support, 

 sometimes dropping to some object below and 

 crossing to the desired place. In the bridge rail- 

 ing, made of criss-cross bars of iron, the matter 

 became extremely simple. Our spiders seemed to 

 show excellent judgment in choosing this place 

 for the scene of their activity. 



The orb-weavers, even the tiny young ones, 



