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mark or taste upon their liomes, being loosely spun in 

 any crack or corner that comes handy, they of course 

 concealing themselves in the back part, and when an 

 unlucky fly gets entangled in the meshes out comes 

 the spider and wraps a few more of his silken threads 

 around the victim, and then retires to devour it at his 

 leisure. The geometrical spider makes a very compli- 

 cated web, somewhat resembling the figures and lines 

 used in geometry, from which it derives its name. The 

 handsome webs of this spider may be seen in great 

 numbers on a dewy morning, when the entire landscape 

 appears covered with one vast network of silver cords 

 or lace. The material of which the webs are made 

 comes from their bodies. Before it comes in contact 

 with the air it is in a fluid state, which hardens when 

 spun. It is interesting to observe one of these insects 

 at work, how the frame-work is made, then how they 

 go round in circles making them smaller every time as 

 they near the center; and how dexterously they fasten 

 the threads at their junctions, and spend considerable 

 time in running stays or braces from the main web to 

 the nearest trees, or other objects. The construction 

 is very wonderful. 



The trap-door spider is another curious member of 

 the spider family. Its name is derived from the dwell- 

 ing in which it lives, being a hole in the ground well 

 lined with soft materials, making a very comfortable 

 abode for the little creature. The entrance is by a lid 

 or trap-door which operates on a hinge. When hun- 

 gry they come up to the mouth of their house and raise 

 the lid a little, and there sit till something comes along 

 which they relish, when they at once pounce upon it 



