646 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL BIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXVIII. 
We persist. At length we are rewarded ; the Nephila begins to move. She 
at last takes up the first thread of her wonderful work. Let us follow the suc- 
cessive stages of her architecture and observe what she has to show. 
She thoroughly explores the vicinity, wandering about the branches, searching 
everywhere with her long legs until in the end she satisfies herself that the place 
is suitable for work. Then she begins at her old foundation-lines, strengthening 
and repairing the injured framework so as to make it suitable to enclose the 
snare. She hangs back-dowmward from her lines ; she climbs backwards and 
forwards along them ; she doubles, trebles, and still further reinforces them 
until they are sufficiently firm and strong. With her slender limbs she sweeps 
the air as she slowly climbs along her threads. In this way she searches for 
suitable attachments. The act is very deliberate and precise. First she sus- 
pends herself by the legs of the right side and with the left ones she sweeps the 
air. Then she reverses the process. The left legs become the organs of suspen- 
sion and those on the right side commence to explore. 
We can learn a few little facts even in this early stage. We can observe that 
the spider’s non-viscid thread, though apparently only a single filament, is 
really composed of a number of strands fused into one line. Owing to the large 
size of the spider we are able to detect this. The cluster of three, or perhaps 
four, filaments can be seen to emerge from the spinnerets, and to blend into a 
single thread about an inch or less away. Sometimes they will remain for a 
distance of two or three inches as separate and independent lines. 
Another little point that we cannot but observe is the mode of fixation of the 
line. It is by no means just a simple touch with the spinnerets. This great 
spider shows us that it is a very definite and decided act. The spinnerets are 
first pressed against the point of anchorage, then the abdomen is rocked firmly 
from side to side ; a small quantity of viscid matter is squeezed out from the 
spinnerets, and this glues the non-viscid line in place. We inspect carefully 
the point of fixation and we see a tiny white flake of glutinous material; it is 
the substance by means of which the attachment has been made. 
A third fact easy to corroborate is that on all occasions a strain is necessary 
in order to draw the filament from the spinnerets. The spider has no power 
to emit it by muscular force. Indeed, on occasions, she may sometimes move 
a little backwards, and then the filament hangs loose owing to the loss of the 
external strain. The line is always drawn from the belly of the spider by some 
traction from the outside. She is incapable either of drawing in or of shooting 
forth her own slender thread. 
We now come to the next act in the architecture, namely the drop which 
the spider makes in order to fix her first vertical line. She falls, seeking an 
attachment below, and allows herself to swing at the end of her almost invisible 
thread. But the point to be observed is this. The spider does not swing in 
such a way as to permit a strain on her spinnerets. Indeed such a mode of sus- 
pension would be impossible. It would result in the line continually running 
out. The spider prevents this by stretching up one hind leg and hooking the 
terminal claws over the suspension line. The claws there act as a check ; it 
is they which take the weight and strain, and they prevent the suspension 
line from running free from the spinnerets. Nor are the other legs idle while 
the spider is swinging from her line. She spreads them wide apart ; they grope 
around and search the air. They are waved about in all directions, and, since 
they cover an expanse of over six inches in diameter, they supply the spider 
with an excellent means of finding a point for the fixation of her thread. Should 
the spider fail to secure an attachment, she will again climb up her line. Her 
mode of ascent is thus. She has been swinging head downwards holding her 
filament with a hind claw. She now turns about. She ascends by a hand over 
hand motion, employing the claws of all the three front pairs of legs to haul 
her up the thread. But the ascent is a wasteful mechanism for the spider, the 
