THE SPIDERS 153 



round mat stretched on the coarse supporting network. 

 At the same time the fangs grip this sheet, lift it by- 

 degrees, tear it from its base and fold it over upon the 

 globe of eggs. It is a laborious operation. The whole 

 edifice totters, the floor collapses, fouled with sand. By 

 a movement of the legs, those soiled shreds are cast aside. 

 Briefly, by means of violent tugs of the fangs, which pull, 

 and broom-like efforts of the legs, which clear away, the 

 Lycosa extricates the bag of eggs and removes it as a 

 clear-cut mass, free from any adhesion. 



It is a white-silk pill, soft to the touch and glutinous. 

 Its size is that of an average cherry. An observant eye 

 will notice, running horizontally around the middle, a 

 fold which a needle is able to raise without breaking it. 

 This hem, generally undistinguishable from the rest of 

 the surface, is none other than the edge of the circular 

 mat, drawn over the lower hemisphere. The other 

 hemisphere, through which the youngsters will go out, 

 is less well fortified : its only wrapper is the texture spun 

 over the eggs immediately after they were laid. 



The work of spinning, followed by that of tearing, is 

 continued for a whole morning, from five to nine o'clock. 

 Worn out with fatigue, the mother embraces her dear 

 pill and remains motionless. I shall see no more to-day. 

 Next morning, I find the Spider carrying the bag of eggs 

 slung from her stern. 



Henceforth, until the hatching, she does not leave go 

 of the precious burden, which, fastened to the spinnerets 

 by a short ligament, drags and bumps along the ground. 

 With this load banging against her heels, she goes about 



