NATURE LORE 



it for the purpose. Some of the caterpillars weave the 

 ehrysalis-case out of the hairs and wool of their sum- 

 mer coats, others out of silk developed from within. 



On October mornings I have had great pleasure 

 in turning over the stones by the roadside and 

 lifting up those on the tops of the stone walls and 

 noting the insect-life preparing its winter quarters 

 under them. The caterpillars and spiders are busy. 

 One could gather enough of the white fine silk from 

 spider tents and cocoons to make a rope big enough 

 to hang himself with. The jumping spider may be 

 found in his closely woven tent. Look at his head 

 through a pocket-glass, and he looks like a minia- 

 ture woodchuck. His smooth, dark-gray, hairy pate 

 and two beadlike eyes are very like; but his broad, 

 blunt nose is unlike. It seems studded with a row of 

 five or six jewels; but these jewels are eyes. What 

 extra bounty Nature seems to have bestowed upon 

 some of these humble creatures! We find our one 

 pair of eyes precious; think what three or four pairs 

 would be if they added to our powers of vision pro- 

 portionately! But probably the many-eyed spiders 

 and the flies with their compound eyes see less 

 than we do. This multitude of eyes seems only an 

 awkward device of Nature's to make up for the 

 movable eye like our own. 



In some of the spiders' cocoons under the stones 

 on the tops of the walls you will find masses of small 

 pink eggs, expected to survive the winter, I suppose, 

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