16 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. 
motion resembled that of a cat in the act of cleaning her face and the 
back part of her head and ears, after having licked her paw. 
Spiders may often be seen making their toilets in the early morning. 
The heavy dews discomfort them and they brush away the drops which 
cling to them. The same act may be observed after showers of rain, after 
feeding, and often after making a snare. The viscid beads and bits of 
flocculent matter from her own web some- 
times entangle with the hairs and spines of 
the legs, after a more than usually vigor- 
ous effort in capturing and swathing a vic- 
tim. This is so disagreeable that the cap- 
tive will be trussed up in the open space 
of the broken orb until the tidy aranead 
removes the offending matter. Sometimes 
after a hearty meal Arachne will make her Fic. 1. Fi. 2. 
toilet, thus reversing the human mode of Fic. 1. The Agricultural ant cleaning the 
a P tip of her abdomen. Fia. 2, Domicile spi- 
dressing before dinner. der cleansing her leg while suspended on 
One spider (Epeira vertebrata), captured * web. 
in a large glass tube while eating a fly, kept hold of her food, deliberately 
: adjusted herself to her new position, spun out a few lines which 
eee were rapidly attached to the sides of the glass, then turned over 
the Feet, 20d with great sang froid concluded her meal. When she had 
finished she began cleaning her palps and feet, and gave me a 
fine opportunity to see the whole operation. I here observed that the mouth 
secreted freely a liquid which appeared to be a little mucilaginous, and that 
the paws were drawn through this. The stiff hairs upon the upper part 
and inner sides of the mandibles must materially aid the process of cleansing. 
The fangs are used as claspers in the process of cleansing. The leg is 
passed underneath one fang which clasps it around in the bent part at the 
articulation, thus holding 
it up to and within the 
mouth. The tendency of 
the legs to spring back from their 
unnatural position is probably thus 
overcome until they can be cleansed. 
Fic. 8. Combing and washing the head with the palp. The fangs may also serve to move 
Fic. 4. Combing a fore leg with the fangs. the leg: back and forth through 
the jaws. During this process the mandibles work back and forward like 
the jaws of vertebrate animals, only that they move horizontally instead 
of vertically. The fangs are used in the same manner to clasp and 
adjust the prey during the act of feeding. They thus serve, together with 
the palps, the purpose of fingers or hands. 
When a hind leg is cleansed it is bent forward and downward beneath 
the abdomen and so into the mouth, where it is treated as above described. 
Use of 
Fangs. 
Fig, 3. Pia. 4. 
