326 THE SPIDERS. 



by the lion. Mrs. Richard Boyle, and who assigns to her 

 the priority of discovery only the two simplest forms of 

 nest of the trap-door spider were known, while he has de- 

 scribed several further forms which, by their complexity, 

 not only prove the extraordinary ingenuity of the creature, 

 but also seem to confirm the proposition long established by 

 other experiments, and so overwhelmingly important in 

 judging the intellectual capacities of animals, that progress 

 and perfection are not the inheritance of man alone, but 

 also, though in smaller measure, are to be met with among 

 animals. 



Of the two simple, or simplest forms of nest, the one 

 which Moggridge calls the single door cork nest, has already 

 been practically described. The other, which he names the 

 single door wafer nest, is only found in the West Indies, and 

 has merely a thin oblate-shaped door, made of silken web 

 without mixture of earth, which lies loose over the mouth 

 of the nest, without, as in the other simple form, entering 

 like a cork into the opening of the cylinder. 



The West Indian nests are far stronger and tougher than 

 are the European, and have also a somewhat different form, 

 giving them some likeness to a stocking. They are the 

 work of the Cteniza nidiilans, and Mr. P. H. Gosse, who 

 has admirably described them, shows that there is the 

 greatest difference in the amount of finish given to them. 

 They are all, however, furnished within with soft delicate 

 silvery silken material. 



The other simple, or cork nest, differs at the first 

 glance from the one above described by the much greater 

 thickness of the door, and the therefore different fashion of 

 closure. But between these two forms there is another, 

 described by Professor Westwood (" Trans, of the Entom. 

 Soc. London," 1841-43), a transitional form, built by the 

 Ctef:a wdijicatorivs. According to Moggridge, also, very 

 nearly allied species sometimes build very unlike nests, 

 while very distinct species often build very like or almost 

 .similar ones a fact exceedingly against the instinct theory. 

 This fact, however, is all the more surprising as all the 

 working-instruments, especially the claw-like endings of the 

 feet, seem to be very differently shaped in species far apart 

 from each other, the converse being also true. 



The nests are often very hard to find, for they are gene- 



