Spiders. 



369 



calculated that it would require four millions oi them to oe 

 as thick as a hair of his beard. 



Another important advantage derived by the spider from 

 the multiplicity of its threadlets is, that the thread affords a 



A single thread of a Spider, greatly magnified, so that, for the small spnce represented, 

 the lines are shown as parallel. 



much more secure attachment to a wall, a branch of a tree, 

 or any other object, than if it were simple ; for, upon pressing 

 the spinneret against the object, as spiders always do when 

 they fix a thread, the spinnerules are extended over an area 



Attached end of a Spider's thread magnified. 



of some diameter, from every hair's-breadth of which a strand, 

 as rope-makers term it, is extended to compound the main 



2 B 



