The Life of the Spider 



In my boyhood, when a troop of us would 

 go, on Thursdays, 1 to try and catch a Gold- 

 finch in the hemp-fields, we used, before cover- 

 ing the twigs with glue, to grease our fingers 

 with a few drops of oil, lest we should get 

 them caught in the sticky matter. Does the 

 Epeira know the secret of fatty substances? 

 Let us try. 



I rub my exploring straw with slightly oiled 

 paper. When applied to the spiral thread of 

 the web, it now no longer sticks to it. The 

 principle is discovered. I pull out the leg of 

 a live Epeira. Brought just as it is into con- 

 tact with the lime-threads, it does not stick to 

 them any more than to the neutral cords, 

 whether spokes or parts of the framework. 

 We were entitled to expect this, judging by the 

 Spider's general immunity. 



But here is something that wholly alters the 

 result. I put the leg to soak for a quarter of 

 an hour in disulphide of carbon, the best 

 solvent of fatty matters. I wash it carefully 

 with a brush dipped in the same fluid. When 

 this washing is finished, the leg sticks to the 

 snaring-thread quite easily and adheres to it 



1 The weekly half-holiday in French schools. Trans-* 

 lator's Note. 



276 



