INTRODUCTION xvii 



are of new or rare kinds. A great many spiders may be found 

 on the garden fences of a shady street, especially in the early 

 summer and again in the autumn. At both seasons they are 

 more active in the middle of the day and more likely then 

 to be wandering about. The writer always carries two small 

 bottles, one a common homeopathic medicine vial, holding one 

 or two drams and half full of alcohol, the other a straight tube 

 vial, without any neck and about the same size, that is kept 

 always dry and occasionally wiped out to remove the threads 

 that are made in it. The dry bottle is placed quickly over the 

 spider and moved about until the spider is coaxed to go into it. 

 The bottle is then turned up and closed with a finger until the 

 other bottle can be uncorked and the spider shaken into the 

 alcohol. In the fields and along the country roads the stones 

 and sticks that have been lying for some time on the ground 

 should be carefully lifted and searched, both on the under sur- 

 face and on the ground below. The stones and sticks should 

 be turned back into the same places so that other spiders 

 may find at once comfortable places to hide under. If they 

 are dropped on new ground, it may be a year before they 

 are fit to use again. Among trees and shrubs the best 

 things are to be found by moving slowly about and watching 

 for spiders, nests, and cobwebs without disturbing them. The 

 webs can be best seen when moving toward the light. The 

 greatest number of spiders can usually be found along paths 

 and the edges of woods, and paths through the woods are the 

 best places for many ground spiders. 



Spiders should be looked for in the same way in grass, by 

 creeping along on the ground or by sitting down and watching 

 until something walks into view ; or the grass and weeds may 

 be swept with a cotton bag, fastened on a hoop like a dip net, 

 with a short handle, and the spiders picked out with a dry 

 bottle from among: the leaves and insects that will be g-athered 



