THE TAPESTRY FRAME 



under cover ; and as to the silk lining, it forms a foothold 

 far firmer and safer than would be afforded by the loose soil 

 while she is passing to and fro with her loads of earth. 



At length the excavation is completed, and the finishing 

 touches are then given to the lining. The first or outer 

 layers are coarse and irregular, while their colour is brownish, 

 possibly owing to their being stained by contact with the 

 earth. The inner layers, on the contrary, are light in colour 

 and of fine texture, closely woven, smooth and compact, 

 resembling in appearance fine kid. The mouth of the tube 

 is made very strong and tough, and is usually from an 

 eighth to a quarter of an inch in thickness. 



The lining is continuous with that of the door, of which 

 it also forms the hinge indeed the door may be regarded as 

 simply a bit of the wall bent at right angles. When build- 

 ing it, the spider attaches it by ties at a number of points 

 around the edge to the margin of the tube; it is thus 

 woven on a frame, just as mediaeval tapestry was wrought 

 upon a frame, and the ties are severed afterwards, the spider 

 biting through them until the edges of the door are free 

 everywhere except at the hinge. One species inhabiting 

 the Ionian Islands adds to the outside, above the hinge, a 

 spur-like projection which is supposed to be a lever by 

 means of which the spider can open her door conveniently 

 when returning home from an expedition. 



The doors are of two kinds, quite distinct from one 

 another. Those made by spiders of the genus Nemesia, 

 abundant in the Riviera, and by a West Indian species 

 named Cteniza nidulans, are thin, light, and composed 

 entirely of silk ; these belong to what is known as the 

 " wafer " type, and being larger than the mouth of the tube 

 they lie on the ground over the aperture or to be accurate, 

 they rest upon the mouth of the tube, which spreads out at 



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