EESEAECHES UPON SPIDERS. 



67 



Upon this the spider was placed so that the sheet of iron 

 falling between the corslet and the abdomen, held him se- 

 cure in that place, so that he could not extend his legs be- 

 hind, as is seen in fig. 4. 



Fig. 3. 



Fig. 4. 



PLATE 1. [llEDUCED.] 



I have also found a method by which I can easily 

 take the silk or allow it to be drawn from the spinner. I 

 present a fly to him ; he takes it quickly with the palpi and 

 turns it over as if he would envelope it. I raise the abdo- 

 men, and at the first touch he opens the spinner (d) and 

 permits an abundance of silk to pass out. I then attach 

 the end of silk to a little reel four and a half inches in di- 

 ameter, with cylindrical arms of glass which I slowly turn 

 and wind the silk of the spider like that of the cocoon. If, 

 by the caprice of the spider, or for any other reason, the 

 thread is broken, I again attach it as is done with the silk 

 of the silk-worm drawn from the cocoon immersed in warm 

 water. I have wound upon the same small reel a band of 

 spider's silk, and a similar band of the silk of the silk- 

 worm. The comparison shows evidently how much more 

 brilliant and beautiful the first is than the second ; so bright 

 that it appears more like a polished metal or mirror than 



