Weavers and Spinners. 



by gently and repeatedly pulling at it; then, having 

 satisfied herself that the line is secure, she proceeds 

 to walk across it cautiously, hand over hand, in an 

 inverted position, carrying with her a second line to 

 strengthen the first ; and she will probably make sev- 

 eral journeys backwards and forwards, adding extra 

 threads, so as to make the foundation lines thoroughly 

 stout and secure. 



The stout foundation lines are placed in such a 

 way as to form an irregular four-sided figure within 

 which the snare will be built, and once they have been 

 successfully fastened in position, the rest of the work 

 is pretty straightforward for the spider. The founda- 

 tion lines completed, the spider proceeds to fix a diameter 

 line across her framework, from the centre of which 

 she constructs the spokes or radii, generally putting 

 these in alternately, at opposite points of the compass, 

 so as to maintain the stability of her work. At the 

 point where these radiating lines or spokes intersect 

 at the centre of the web, the spider carefully fastens 

 them together by a small flossy mass of silk, which thus 

 forms the central point or hub of the web. The radial 

 lines are constructed by walking from the centre along 

 one that has already been formed, the first diameter 

 line for instance, and fixing the thread to some new 

 point of the circumference. The spokes completed, 

 the spider surrounds the hub of the web with a few 

 turns of spiral thread, which serve to bind more firmly 

 the spokes of the wheel. The general plan of the web 

 is now completed, but the most important part of the 

 work still remains to be done ; for the lines so far laid 

 down by the spider are all perfectly dry, and therefore 



