GOSSAMER AND SILK 139 



removed, one gasps for wonder at such an ingenious, and 

 it seems well-reasoned device. But the horizontal webs of 

 these gorse-builders are prettier ; and being less geometric 

 give a greater impression 

 of an adaptive mind, if 

 the word may be used. 

 However, the instinct 

 springs from the irresist- 

 ible processes of the body. 

 The ' spinners ' and ' spin- 

 nerets,' and the pincers in the leg for 

 carding and teasing the spun silk, make 

 the web no more wonderful than other 

 wonders. The animal just indulges the 

 free play of life to the end of the con- 

 tinuance of the life for future generations. 

 It is driven to certain action by the pro- 

 pulsion of its own capacity, which is 

 supereminent in one direction. 



Edison, looking at the energy of the 

 sea, is said to have wept that so much 

 power should be wasted. In a less tragic 

 vein the merchant astray in a South 

 Wales valley might lament for the waste 

 of good silk in these autumn factories. 



For the web of the spider is often made 'THE MINUTE GOLDCREST 

 of the very finest silk thread imaginable, HAS J UST DASHED 



J ACROSS THE NORTH SEA 5 



a silk that no process can produce. It 

 is at least as probable that one day spiders will be drilled 

 to the work of the silkworm as that the tides will be har- 

 nessed to the creation of available power. 



In early autumn days the race of spiders discovers a new 

 activity, visible enough in the webs of these voracious spiders 



