246 Transactions.—Z oology. 
‘‘ hearths and homes.’’ I confess, when I first read of this, I thought it 
partook so much of the Baron Munchausen style of marvel that I did not 
believe it, and it was not till I had repeatedly seen it with my own eyes that 
my scepticism was vanquished. The trap-door is used in two ways, not only as 
a means of concealment to the mouth of the nest in the modes I have already 
fully described, but also as a means of defence against the intrusion of ene- 
mies. This is effected by the spider actually holding down the trap-door from 
the inside, and by its obtaining a purchase for this purpose with its body 
against the sides of the nest. That there may be no doubt in your minds 
on this point, I transcribe from my note-book what actually occurred on one 
of these occasions, and was noted by me on the spot :—‘‘ 26th November, 
1874. Another well-made, but thin, trap-door was near at hand, and on my 
touching it, I saw it visibly become depressed in the centre and shut close, 
as graphically described by Moggridge, ‘like the movement of the tighten- 
ing of a limpet on a sea rock.’ So I took my knife and raised the trap-door 
a little, when I saw the spider clinging to it, feet uppermost, and felt her 
holding down the door with some degree of resistance ; her body being 
placed across the tube and filling it up, with her skates planted 
against the sides of the nest. The trap-door slipped off my knife with the 
force, and on my raising it again more firmly, she let go her hold and ran 
down the hole out of sight. I raised back the lid, so as to examine the 
inside of it for any marks of its claws, such as described by Moggridge ; 
but could not detect any regular markings. Whilst eyeing it, up came the 
spider to the mouth of the hole; but, on seeing me, she ran back, and 
though I waited and watched some time, she did not again come up.” I 
then dug out the spider, and have her now in bottle No. 9. From the 
looseness of the soil, it was impossible to preserve the nest; but it was 
nearly straight, with an enlargement immediately below the trap-door. I 
measured a section of it, however, and it is depicted in Sketch No. 7., Plate 
VIII. Ialso secured the trap-door, and you have it now before you, No. 26. 
Holes in the Trap-door. 
On examining the under side of the lid carefully with a glass at the 
time, I could make out two or three holes or places where the silk lining of 
the lid was raised and wraggled, irregularly placed towards the centre of 
the lid, as if they were the marks of the hooks of the spider’s claws, but 
not very distinct, as the texture of the silk was rather coarse and open, and 
certainly not so regular, nor placed round the edges, as shown by Moggridge, 
in one of his beautiful sketches. If you examine the lid now with a glass 
you will see these holes even more distinct than they were when freshly 
made; but they are nothing like in appearance to what has been described 
by Moggridge and others. I have examined several other trap-doors, which 
