THE SPIDER KIND. 157 



plant or the branch of a tree. The spider only wants to have 

 one end of the line fast, in order to secure and tighten the other. 

 It accordingly draws the line when thus fixed, and then, by 

 passing and repassing upon it, strengthens the thread in such 

 a manner as to answer all its intentions. The first cord being 

 thus stretched, the spider walks along a part of it, and there 

 fastens another, and dropping from thence, fastens the thread to 

 some solid body below, then climbs up again and begins a third, 

 which it fastens by the same contrivance. When three threads 

 are thus fixed, it forms a square, or something that very nearly 

 resembles one, and in this the animal is generally seen to reside. 

 It often happens, however, when the young spider begins spin- 

 ning, that its web becomes too buoyant, and not only the thread 

 floats in the air, but even the little spinster. In this manner we 

 have often seen the threads of spiders floating in the air ; and 

 what is still more surprising, the young spiders themselves at- 

 tached to their own web. The reason is obvious ; for as even 

 gold itself may be so finely drawn out as to float in the air, so 

 the finer thread of a spider is so buoyant as not only to swim in 

 the air, but also to lift the spider itself; which, like the tail of a 

 kite, rises with its own manufacture. 



The spider's web being thus completed, and fixed in a proper 

 place, its next care is to seize and secure whatever insect hap- 

 pens to be caught in the toil. For this purpose, it remains for 

 weeks and even months upon the watch, without ever catching 

 a single fly ; for the spider, like most other insects, is surpris- 

 ingly patient of hunger. It sometimes happens that too strong 

 a fly strikes itself against the web, and thus, instead of being 

 caught, tears the net to pieces. In general, however, the butter- 

 fly, or the hornet, when they touch the web, fly off again, and 

 the spider seems no way disposed to interrupt their retreat. 

 The large blue-bottle fly, the ichneumon fly, and the common 

 meat-fly, seem to be its favourite game. When one of these 

 strikes into the toils, the spider is instantly seen alert and watch 

 ful at the mouth of its hole, careful to observe whether the fly be 

 completely immeshed. If that be the case, the spider walks 

 leisurely forward, seizes its prey, and instantly kills it, by in 

 stilling a venomous juice into the wound it makes. If, however, 

 the fly be not entirely immeshed, the spider patiently waits, 

 without appearing, until its prey has fatigued itself by its struggles 

 to obtain its liberty ; for if the ravager should appear in all his 

 terrors while the prey is but half involved, a desperate effort 

 might give it force enough to get free. If the spider has fasted 

 for a long time, it then drags the fly immediately into its hole 

 and devours it ; but if there has been plenty of game, and the 

 animal be no way pressed by hunger, it then gives the fly two 

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