318 ARACHNIDA. 



singular abodes has long excited the admiration of the naturalist : 

 a deep pit is first dug by the spider, often to the depth of one 

 or two feet, which, being carefully lined throughout with silken 

 tapestry, affords a warm and ample lodging ; the entrance to 

 this excavation is carefully guarded by a lid or door, which moves 

 upon a hinge, and accurately closes the mouth of the pit. In 

 order to form the door in question, the Mygale first spins a web 

 which exactly covers the mouth of the hole, but which is attached 

 to the margin of the aperture by one point only of its circum- 

 ference, this point of course forming the hinge. The spider then 

 proceeds to lay upon the web a thin layer of the soil collected in 

 the neighbourhood of her dwelling, which she fastens with another 

 layer of silk ; layer after layer is thus laid on, until at length the 

 door acquires sufficient strength and thickness : when perfected, 

 the concealment afforded is complete ; for, as the outer layer of 

 the lid is formed of earth precisely similar to that which surrounds 

 the hole, the strictest search will scarcely reveal to the most 

 practised eye the retreat so singularly defended. 



Another spider (Clotho Durandii) constructs a dwelling equally 

 artificial and ingenious, a kind of tent in which it lives and rears 

 its young. This tent is composed of several superposed sheets of 

 the finest taffeta, and its contour presents seven or eight prominent 

 angles, which are fixed to the surface of the ground by silken cords. 

 The young Clotho at first lays down only two sheets thus secured, 

 between which she hides herself ; but, as she grows older, she con- 

 tinually lays down additional coverings, until the period when she 

 begins to lay her eggs, at which time she constructs an apartment, 

 soft, downy, and warm, specially devoted to their reception. The 

 exterior sheet of the tent is purposely dirtied for the purpose of con- 

 cealment ; but within, everything is beautifully clean and white. 

 The most admirable part of the contrivance, however, is the per- 

 fect safety afforded to the young when the parent leaves her tent in 

 search of food ; some of the superposed sheets are fastened toge- 

 ther at their edges, others are simply laid upon each other, and, 

 as- the parent herself alone possesses the secret which enables her 

 to raise those layers by which entrance is to be obtained, no 

 other animal can find its way into her impenetrable abode. 



