A BEAST OF PREY 



53 



and fastened each new line taut to one of the 

 outer scaffoldings. So at last she had formed a 

 regular set of rays like the spokes of a wheel, but as 

 yet without any spiral connecting threads or mesh- 

 like cross - pieces. 

 The rays of this 

 first frame work were 

 stout and thick,com- 

 posed of several dis- 

 tinct strands, but 

 very little viscid ; 

 they were built up of 

 many threads each, 

 in a manner to be 

 hereafter described ; 

 and they hardened 

 quickly on expos- 

 ure to the air, for 

 they were intended 

 mainly to serve as 

 beams, not as nets 

 or insect-catchers. 



Her ground-plan 

 being thus complete, 

 Rosalind next pro- 

 ceeded with great 

 deliberation to add 

 the meshes of the 



web (which are the practical insect-catchers) by 

 connecting the rays with the spiral network. In 

 doing this, she followed a regular method. Be- 

 ginning at the centre, she fastened a thinner cord 



NO. 3- A BABY SPIDER IN ITS 

 FIRST SNARE. 



