ON THE MANNER 
IN WHICH 
THE GEOMETRIC SPIDERS 
CONSTRUCT 
THEIR NETS. 
—— 
Few animals of solitary habits are endowed with 
more extraordinary instincts than spiders. The 
ardent affection for their offspring so strikingly 
manifested by some species, the exquisite skill 
displayed by many in fabricating silken cocoons to 
contain their eggs and in the construction of their 
habitations, the highly curious contrivances by 
means of which others traverse the regions of air 
or descend beneath the surface of water, and the 
various stratagems had recourse to by all in eluding 
their numerous enemies and in securing their living 
prey, are eminently calculated to attract the atten- 
tion and elicit the admiration of every person who 
has a mind alive to the wonderful physiological 
phenomena exhibited by the inferior orders of ani- 
mated beings. But interesting as the general eco- 
nomy of this remarkable order of animals is, and 
