TRAP-DOOR-NEST SPIDERS. 63 



CA^E cut deep beneath the level of the surrounding country, or in roads 

 margined on each side by turf walls or embankments. And the 

 level they affect in such banks is from two to four feet high, or a 

 little below the line of vision of an average sized man. And in 

 the next place it turns out that the hinges of doors are very 

 slightly made (in London we should say that the work had been 

 scamped), that they very soon wear through and give way, and 

 the doors then drop off and roll down the bank. It is probable 

 that a strong and lasting hinge would not be sufficiently flexible. 

 But the frequent loss of the doors is made up for by the ease 

 with which they are renewed. If we remove a door to-day, a 

 new door, hinge and all, will be hung by to-morrow at the same 

 hour ; it may not be quite perfect, and may take another day 

 or so to complete it to the spider's mind j but the door is on. 

 The result of this insufficiency of hinges, is that doors that have 

 dropped off and rolled down the bank, remain as tell-tale wit- 

 nesses, to indicate that there is a nest in the bank a foot or two 

 above, which only requires a careful search to be found. Some- 

 times they are so ingeniously like the surrounding earth, that 

 they defy detection, but generally speaking, they can be found, 

 at all events by an educated eye. Acting on this plan, Mr. 

 Moggridge and his son spent the morning in reconnoitring the 

 lanes in the vicinity of Marseilles, and next day were each able to 

 surprise the Curator with a donation of several specimens that had 

 rewarded their search. 



When found, the next difficulty is to get them out entire, and 

 for the purposes of such a museum as this, to bring them to 

 England without crumbling to pieces. Here again care in cutting 

 out, putting aside, and packing, and then, after filling the tubes 

 with cotton, paying the earth around them again and again, with 

 a weak solution of gum arabic, overcomes the difficulty. The 

 nest can even be dissected out, so as to show the double tubes 

 and chamber door, &c., if sufficient skill and neat-handedness be 

 brought to bear upon it. We tried, but it would appear that we 



