252 ABOUT SPIDERS AXD THEIR WEBS. 



its attacks even when repeatedly pierced through the 

 body. 



The female Mygale is, like our own Wolf spiders, a 

 most devoted parent. She encloses her eggs in a very 

 strong cocoon of white silk, and carries it about with her 

 by means of the appendages called " antennulse," so that 

 it is protected by her body. 



On an average, each cocoon contains nearly two 

 thousand eggs, so that the spiders might be expected to 

 multiply at a rate which would make them masters of 

 the land. However, the balances of nature are always 

 held level, and the counterweight in this case is to be 

 found in the predaceous ants which swarm in the country 

 of the Mygale, and whenever they come upon a cocoon 

 of eggs, or a brood of newly-hatched young, will devour 

 them all, as well as the parent. " One thing," as Solomon 

 says, " is set over against another." 



