AN EIGHT-LEGGED ISHMAELITE. 43 



ever, are not utterly depraved ; they have their redeeming 

 features. They are most intelligent and brave, and the 

 females are excellent mothers to their young. The rash fury 

 with which the female wolf-spider defends her children can- 

 not fail to excite admiration. Sufficient has been said to 

 demonstrate that the spider's intelligence is of a very high 

 order. Instances might be multiplied indefinitely. I may 

 cite the clever manner in which a spider cuts away a piece 

 of paper or other useless object which has become entangled 

 in its net ; and the still cleverer way in which it tackles 

 a wasp caught in the web. It never for a moment comes 

 within reach of the sting. Finally, the spider has discov- 

 ered the use of the plummet. It often happens that when 

 a spider constructs its web between two trees there are no 

 branches or other objects to which the lower threads can be 

 fixed. The spider overcomes this difficulty by descending 

 to the ground and attaching a line to a small stone or lump 

 of clay. It next hoists up the stone or other object to what 

 it considers a safe position, well out of the way of any small 

 animal that may chance to pass along the ground under the 

 web. That such a stone acts as a plummet for keeping 

 the web taut may be proved by raising the stone, when the 

 web will immediately begin to collapse, but will become 

 extended again as soon as the stone is lowered. 



