228 THE LOG OF THE SUN 



his aerial spans warns him of a capture, how 

 eagerly he seizes his master cable and jerks away 

 on it, thus vibrating the whole structure and 

 making more certain the confusion of his victim. 



What is more interesting than to see a great 

 yellow garden-spider hanging head downward in 

 the centre of his web, when we approach too 

 closely, instead of deserting his snare, set it vi- 

 brating back and forth so rapidly that he becomes 

 a mere blur; a more certain method of escaping 

 the onslaught of a bird than if he ran to the shel- 

 ter of a leaf. 



Those spiders which leap upon their prey in- 

 stead of setting snares for it have still a use for 

 their threads of life, throwing out a cable as they 

 leap, to break their fall if they miss their foothold. 

 What a strange use of the cobweb is that of the 

 little flying spiders! Up they run to the top of 

 a post, elevate their abdomens and run out several 

 threads which lengthen and lengthen until the 

 breeze catches them and away go the wingless 

 aeronauts for yards or for miles as fortune and 

 wind and weather may dictate! We wonder if 

 they can cut loose or pull in their balloon cables 

 at will. 



Many species of spiders spin a case for holding 

 their eggs, and some carry this about with them 

 until the young are hatched. 



A most fascinating tale would unfold could we 

 discover all the uses of cobweb when the spiders 



