THE GARDEN SPIDER . 
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The best known of these creatures is the common Garden 
Spider ( Epeira diadcmo ), sometimes called the Geometric 
Spider, whose beautifully radiated net is so familiar that its 
general shape requires no description. Suffice it to say, that 
the spider exhibits wonderful skill in placing its web, making a 
framework of very strong threads or ropes, and then spinning 
the net itself between them. Very great strength is thus ob- 
tained, for the threads are exceedingly elastic ; so that, al- 
though stretched tolerably tightly, they will yield to pressure, 
and immediately recover themselves. This property is very 
needful, in order to enable them to resist the wind, to which 
they are so fully exposed. 
These spiders have, moreover, a most singular plan of 
strengthening their web, when the wind is more than or- 
dinarily violent. If they find that the wind stretches their 
nets to a dangerous extent, they hang pieces of wood, or stone, 
or other substances to the web, so as to obtain the needful 
steadiness. I have seen a piece of wood which had been thus 
used by a Garden Spider, and which was some two inches in 
length and thicker than an ordinary drawing-pencil. The 
spider hauled it to a height of nearly five feet ; and when by 
some accident the suspending thread was broken, the little 
creature immediately lowered itself to the ground, attached a 
fresh thread, ascended again to the web, and hauled the piece 
of wood after it. 
It found this balance-weight at some distance from the web, 
and certainly must have dragged it for a distance of five feet 
along the ground before reaching the spot below the web. 
There were eight or ten similar webs in the same verandah, 
but only in the single instance was the net steadied by a 
weight. 
The structure of the beautiful web is very remarkable. 
It is nearly circular, and is composed of a number of straight 
lines, radiating from a common centre, and having a spiral line 
wound regularly upon them. Now, the structure of the ra- 
diating and the spiral lines is quite distinct, as may be seen by 
applying a microscope of moderate power. The radiating 
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