SPIDERS. 
I69 
acquaintance of spiders without subjecting them to the 
rigours of classification. 
I wish I had pursued this purpose with more energy, for 
the subject is a very fascinating one. If you feel inclined 
to take it up, now is the time. As the crops which have 
been silently growing for months are now ripe for the 
sickle, so the insects which have been feeding in the obscu- 
rity of grubdom are producing a teeming harvest of winged 
things ; and the rains, which make havoc of the spider’s 
toils, are now nearly over. So all at once they appear 
and spread their snares in every likely spot. Where do 
they come from ? Our abysmal ignorance again ! I do 
not know, nor can I find anyone who does. 
The most conspicuous among them is a gigantic brute, 
whose body, streaked with green and yellow, measures 
nearly an inch and a half in length, while her slender black 
legs will easily span half a foot. She must have taken some 
time to grow to that size, and we may safely assume that 
she was born last year, but, if so, she has been in hiding for 
the past six months. Now she appears suddenly and spreads 
a great web across the road, fully three feet in diameter, sus- 
pended from cords like tent ropes, made fast to distant trees. 
I speak of her in the feminine gender because she is the lady 
