A BEAST OF PREY 



or a lobster's coat, entire ; and a new one grew 

 under it. 



In No. 8 Mr. Knock has luckily caught our 

 heroine just at the moment of such a moult. She 

 is dropping out of her old skin, by means of 

 her threads ; beneath it, the new one has grown, 

 the animal being thus quite literally accommo- 

 dated with a fresh suit 



" while you wait." 

 The way the old skin 

 hangs up is curious 

 and typical. At first 

 the new outer coat is 

 soft and yielding, like 

 the freshly moulted 

 skeleton or armour 

 of a crab or lobster ; 

 but it soon hardens, 

 and not infrequently 

 advantage is taken 

 of the moult to re- 

 place parts that have 

 been accidentally lost 

 or broken off, such as 

 a leg or a feeler. The 



economical spider, however, never wastes any- 

 thing : she does not throw away the old suit ; as 

 soon as her jaws have grown hard enough, it is 

 eaten up by the owner, and thus used over again 

 in the production of web or body material. If 

 thrift be a virtue, no beast on earth possesses more 

 than a spider. 



E 



NO. 8. A SPIDER CHANGING ITS 

 SUIT OF CLOTHES. 



