ON THE NETS OF GEOMETRIC SPIDERS. 289 
in the net, which seldom fails to excite to action 
such insects as are ensnared. Guided by the 
struggles of her prey, the spider runs along the 
most contiguous radius: to seize her victim, avoiding 
any contact with the viscid line as much as possible, 
and drawing out after her a thread attached to one 
of the lines near the centre of her net, which serves 
to facilitate her return. 
Complicated in structure, elegant in design, and 
admirably adapted to effect the purpose for which 
they are intended, the nets of the Geometric Spiders 
may, nevertheless, be shown by experiment to result 
from a propensity to construct inherent in those 
animals; for when their eggs are hatched in glass 
jars, apart from every species belonging to the family, 
the newly disclosed young, acting under the stimulus 
of hunger, not only fabricate snares, prior to having 
acquired the slightest knowledge of their prey, but, 
even in their earliest attempts to accomplish their 
object, display as consummate skill as the most ex- 
perienced individuals. 
