126 A NATURALIST IN HIMALAYA 



of mathematical beauty. It mi^ht be a work of 

 profound wisdom ; the product of a calculating mind 

 measuring angles, estimating areas, tracing with skill 

 the geometrical curve, examining tensions, appreci- 

 ating minute imperfections, halting, reversing, circling 

 backward as perfection may require. Is this pre- 

 meditated design ? Are spirals, parallels, angles, 

 areas, clearly depicted in this creature's mind to make 

 her so cunning and so exact an architect ? Does she 

 fashion the beautiful because she loves beauty, the 

 accurate because she loves precision ? I cannot think 

 so, I believe the spider lives in total ignorance. 

 She knows naught of her wondrous work. Its beauty 

 and precision are both lost on her. Why or how it 

 is made she cares not. She is as oblivious of her 

 spiral filament as is an ammonite of its spiral shell. 

 What in our ignorance we call instinct, impels her 

 to her task. She must work ; she knows not why, 

 she knows not how. The delicacy of her silken 

 threads, the perfection of her workmanship, gratify 

 other minds than hers. Certain acts on the part 

 of the spider will help us to appreciate this. 



First of all, can the spider repair its web? If so, 

 then it can claim the gift of intelligence. For to 

 repair an injury the spider must appreciate the nature 

 of the damage, and direct its action to a definite 

 premeditated end. One evening I deliberately injure 

 a snare. I excise a portion of three adjoining radii 

 with six turns of the viscid spiral. The sides of the 

 rent are drawn apart by the elasticity of the web, and 

 a hole remains through which three or four fingers 

 can be passed. The spider, after a momentary alarm, 

 takes no further notice. It patiently awaits its prey. 



