68 Flashlights on NAxrKK 



dart out upon tlicin at once and make a meal oti- 

 Iiaiid ol lur devoted admirer. 



Kveii the successful suitor liimselt is by no 

 means safe ; foi" it is Rosalind's way, when she 

 tires of a lover, not to naj^ and quarrel, hut to 

 devour him outright, and lo(jk out (ov anotlier. 

 This saves time and trouMe, and is better in the 

 end for tlie temper of tlie species. 



When autumn comes, Rosalind lays her ej^j^s in 

 a cocoon, and fastens them on the under side of 

 a stone or piece of wood, where they liatch out in 

 sprinj^, and so the whole story of lier life bej^ins 

 over aj4ain. She herself, meanwhile, retires to 

 winter quarters, where she passes the cold months 

 mider shelter in a state of more or less torpidity. 

 It is not known exactly how lon^ a spider lives ; 

 but they continue for at least two or thiee years, 

 and probably nmch lonj^er. We had Rosalind 

 muler examination for two successive summers. 



The family to which Rosalind belongs, that of 

 the geometrical spiders, may be placed at the very 

 head of the whole spider order. Its webs are the 

 most perfect in architecture, are the best planned 

 as snares, and have a strict monopoly of tlie sticky 

 beads, which iielp to entangle the prey, and which 

 are also, under the micrt)Scope, most beautiful 

 objects, decked in prismatic colours, and lookin<4 

 like so many iridescent opals. In shape and mark- 

 inj^s these spiders are als(j superior to the common 

 run of ei.i*ht-lejL*s4ed beasts, thouifh they are certaiidy 

 less beautiful than some of the lovely <freen and 

 variegated semi-transparent lield-spiders. It would 



