THE SPIDER. 115 



carries on the work in an independent style, as if he 

 were saying : 



" Let me alone, if you please ; I want none of your 

 help. You only bother me and run in my way. I have 

 all my wits about me, my own tools and my own 

 materials. I can mind my own business, and want 

 neither your advice nor your assistance." 



He is a surly fellow, a misanthrope, and a very ugly 

 tempered as well as conceited one at that. 



The spider certainly is accredited with possessing a 

 very ferocious temperament, the males often fighting 

 with great fury. The females, who are larger than the 

 males, are even more combative — indeed the ungentle 

 spouse is not infrequently charged with devouring her 

 own husband ! It is possible, though, that the victim 

 may have been the meddlesome proprietor of a neigh- 

 boring web, whose interference had aggravated her be- 

 yond endurance, and the act, therefore, might be termed 

 justifiable spidericide. 



Ugly and repulsive as some spiders are, they no doubt 

 are as proud of their personal appearance as of their skill 

 in the manufacture of the delicate webs which they hang 

 out to lure unwary flies to their destruction, and so 

 supply their pantries with the dainties they love. 



But, seriously, what a marvel he is, what striking 

 characteristics he has, what forethought, what vigilance. 

 How clever are his contrivances and expedients where- 

 with to compass his desired end. Who can have failed 



