34 
WILD SCENES AND SONG-BIEDS. 
Without an instant's confusion, or hesitation, it commenced 
rapidly throwing a new web with its hinder legs or spinners, 
over the two claws that were entangled, so that the hold 
there might first be strengthened. The cockroach struggled 
desperately — his weight began to tear away the web from 
the beam. 
The spider felt that all was giving way — and faster than 
the eye could follow him, ran back and forth along the 
breaking cords, from the beam to the heels of the monster, 
carrying a new thread from one to the other each time, until 
the breakage was arrested, and he was satisfied that the whole 
would bear all its weight and efforts. 
He then returned cautiously to the charge, and, after 
a dozen trials, succeeded in webbing the second pair of legs, 
and bound them down in spite of the tremendous writhings 
of the great black beast. The third pair were near the head, 
and. he could not succeed in binding them from the front, so 
he tried another tack ; he crawled along the hard sheath of 
the back (it hung back downward), and commenced, with in- 
conceivable rapidity, throwing his web over the head. The 
roach seemed to be greatly frightened by this, and made 
more furious efforts than ever to get loose. 
The cords from above began to give way again. The 
spider darted along them again as before, till the}^ were 
strengthened a second time. He now tried another manoeu- 
vre. We had noticed him frequently attempting to bite 
through the sheath armor of the roach, but he seemed to 
have failed in piercing it. He now seemed determined to 
catch the two fore legs that were free. After tAventy trials 
at least, he noosed one of them, and soon had it under his 
control. This pair of legs was much more delicate than the 
others ; h^ instantly bit through the captured one. 
The poison was not suflfi.cient to affect the large mass of 
the roach a great deal, but the leg seemed to give it much 
pain, and it bent its head forward to caress the wound with 
its jaws— and now the object of the cunning spider was ap- 
