90 MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. 



clothes line. One part of the lower edge was attached to a Penyan sun-flower, and another to a 

 trellis fence, four or five iect distant. Between tlie.sc there was no object nearer tlian the fp-ound, 

 to which an additional brace lino could be carried ; but two threads, a fool a.suuder, descended 

 from this part of the web. and, eight or ten inches below it, were united at a point. From ibis 

 point, a single linC; four or five inclies long, was suspended, and to its lower extremity was the 

 weight, a living' one, viz. a worm, flirce ■inches lonf;, and one-eighth of an inch thick. The cord 

 \vas fa.stened .around the middle of tlic victim's hod}' and as no object was within reacli, all its 

 writhings and efforts to csc;ipc were fruitless. Its weight answered tiie same purpose as a piece 

 of inanimate matter, while its suH'eriugs seemed not in the least to disturb the unconcerned mur- 

 derer, who lay waiting for his prey above. 



"Whether the owner of the web found it a more easy task to capture this unlucky worm and 

 raise it, than to elevate a stone of the same weight, may be questioned. (?) Perhaps in seeking 

 for the latter, the former fell in his way, and was seized as the first suitable object that came to 

 hand — like the human tyrant, (Domilian) who, to show hia skill in archery, planted his arrows in 

 the heads of men or cattle, in the absence of other targets. It may be, however, that a piece of 

 stone, earth, or wood, of a suitable weight, was not in the vicinity of the web. 



To observe the effect of this weight, I separated, with a pair of scissors, the thread by which it 

 ^vas suspended, and instantly the weh sunk to half its previous dimensions — the lower part be- 

 came loose, and witli the slightest current kept shaking like a sail shivering in the wind. A fresh 

 weight was not supplied by the next morning: but instead of it two long brace lines extended 

 from the lower part of the web to two vine tendrils, a considerable distance off. These I cut 

 away to see what device would be next adopted, but on going to examine it the following day, I 

 found the clothes-line removed, and with it all relics of the insect's labors had disappeared.' 



Maso.n-Spiders. — A no less wonderful stnicture is composed by a sort of spiders, natives 

 of the tropics and the south of Euroj)e, which have been justly called mason-spiders by M. 

 Latreille. One of these {Mygalc nidulans, Walckn.), found iji the West Indies, 



'• digs a hole in the earth obliquely downward, ahout three inches in length, aud one in diameter. 

 This cavity sl.e lines with a tough thick v^'eb, which, when taken out, resembles a leathern purse ; 

 but what is most curious, this house has a door with hinges, like the operculum of some sea-shells, 

 and herself and family, who tenant this nest, open and shut the door whenever they pass and re- 

 pass. This history was told me," says Darwin, " aud the nest, with its door, shown meby the late 

 Dr. Butt, of Bath, who was some years jihysician in Jamaica.''* 



'■ The nest of a mason-spider, similar to this," says Mr. Rennie, "has been obligingly put into 

 our hands by Mr. Riddle of Blackheath. It came from the West Indies, and is probably thut of 

 Latreille's clay-kneader (My gale cratien.i,) and one of the smallest of the genus. We have since 

 seen a pair of these spiders in possession of Mr. William Mello, of Blackheath. The nest is com- 

 posed of very hard argillaceous clay, deeply tinged with brovi^n o.xide of iron. It is in foi'ui of a 

 tube, about one inch in diameter, between six and seven inches long, and slightl}' bent toward 

 the lower extremity — appearing to have been mined into the clay rather than built. The interior 

 of the tube is lined with a uniform tapestry of silken weh, of an nrange-irhilc color, with a tex- 

 ture intermediate between India paper and very fine glove leather. But the most wonderful 

 part of this nest is its entrance, which we look upon as the perfection of insect architecture. A 

 circular door, ahout the size of a crown piece, slightly concave on the outside and convex within, 

 is formed of more than a dozen layers of the same web which lines the interior, closely laid upon 

 one another, and shaped so that the inner layers are the broadest, the outer being gradually less 

 in diameter, except toward the hinge, which is about an inch long ; and in consequence of all the 

 layers being united there, and prolonged into the tube, it becomes the thickest and strongest part 

 of the .-itructure. The elasticity of the materials, also, gives to this hinge the remarkable peculiar- 

 ity of acting lil?e a spring, and shutting the doorof tlie nest spontaneously. It is, besides, made to 

 fit so accurately to the aperture, which is composed of similar concentric layers of web, that it is 

 almost impossible to distingui.sli the joining by the most careful inspection. To gratify curiosity, 

 the door has been opened and shut hundreds of times, without in the least destroying the power 

 of the spring. When the door is shut, it resembles some of the lichens (Leciden,) or the leathery 

 fungi, such as Poli/porus versicolor (MiCHKi.i.j or, nearer still, the upper valve of a young oyster- 

 shell. The door of the nest, the only part seen above ground, being of a blackish-brown color, it 

 must bo very dilHi'ult to discover." 



Another mason-spider (Mygalc ccrmeataria, Lath.), found in the south of Fratice, u.sually 

 selects l()r her nc^t :i place bat'o of grass, sloping in such a manner as to carry oft" the water, 

 and of a firm soil, without rocks or snwU stones. She digs a gallery a foot or two in depth, 

 and of a diairieler (ecpial throughout) sufficient to admit of her easily pii.ssing. She lines this 

 with a tapKslnj of silk ghicil to the trails. The <loor, which is circular, is constructed of 

 many layers of earth kneaded, aud bound tog(>ther witli silk. Externally, it is flat and rougli, 

 <!orresponding to tlie eartli around tlie (nitrance, for the pm-pose, no doubt, of con(-<'alni»>iit : 

 on the inside it is convex, and tapestried thiekli/ vifh a weh of fine xilk. The threads of tliis 

 door-ta])estry arc prolonged, and strongly attached t<i the upper side of the entrance, fonning 

 an excellent hinge, which, whc^n j)ush('d open by the spidiu-, shuts again by its own weiglit, 

 without the aid of s|uing hinges. When the sj)i<lei- is at hiune. aud her dour furibly opened 

 by an intnuler, she pulls it strongly inward, ;uid even where half-opened often su.itches it 

 out of the hand ; but, when she is foiled in this, .she retreats to tlie bottom of her den, us her 

 last resource.! The nest of tliis spider (tlu; niasou-^pidei) is re])re.si>ntt'd in Plate IV. Fig. 

 14, and shows the nest shut. Fig. 15 represents it open. Fig. 16, the spider (My gale ece- 



• Darwin's Zoonomiu, i. 253, 8vo. ed. f Mem. Soc. d'lJist. Nut, do Paris, An. vii. 



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