The Life of the Spider 



ness. Commend me to those youngsters for 

 getting up without whining, dusting them- 

 selves and resuming their seat in the saddle ! 

 The unhorsed ones promptly find a leg of the 

 mother, the usual climbing-pole; they swarm 

 up it as fast as they can and recover their 

 places on the bearer's back. The living bark 

 of animals is reconstructed in the twinkling 

 of an eye. 



To speak here of mother-love were, I 

 think, extravagant. The Lycosa's affection for 

 her offspring ihardly surpasses that of the 

 plant, which is unacquainted with any tender 

 feeling and nevertheless bestows the nicest 

 and most delicate care upon its seeds. The 

 animal, in many cases, knows no other sense 

 of motherhood. What cares the Lycosa for 

 her brood! She accepts another's as readily 

 as her own ; she is satisfied so long as her back 

 is burdened with a swarming crowd, whether 

 it issue from her ovaries or elsewhence. There 

 is no question here of real maternal affection. 



I have described elsewhere the prowess of 

 the Copris 1 watching over cells that are not 



*A species of Dung-beetle. Cf. The Life and Love of 

 the Insect, by J. Henri Fabre, translated by Alexander 

 Teixeira de Mattos : chap. v. Translator's Note, 



158 



