i ;8 
STRANGE DWELLINGS . 
lines are smooth and not very elastic, whereas the spiral line is 1 
thickly studded with minute knobs, and is elastic to a wonderful 
degree, reminding the observer of a thread of India-rubber. 
So elastic, indeed, is this line, that many observers have 
thought that the spider has the power of retracting them within 
the spinnerets, inasmuch as she often will draw a thread out to 
a considerable length, and then, when she approaches the 
point to which it will be attached, it seems to re-enter the 
spinneret until it is shortened to the required length. This, 
however, is only an optical delusion, and caused by the great }| 
elasticity of the thread, which can accommodate itself to the 
space which it is required to cross. I 
One very remarkable point in the construction of these webs, || 
so exactly true in all their proportions, is that they are executed !i 
entirely by the sense of touch. The eyes are situated on the | 
front of the body and on the upper surface, whereas the 
spinnerets are placed at the very extremity of the body and on 
the under surface, the threads being always guided by one of 
the hind legs, as may be seen by watching a garden spider in 
the act of building or repairing her web. In order that the 
fact should be placed beyond a doubt, spiders have been con- 1 
fined in total darkness, and yet have spun webs which were as 
true and as perfect as those which are made in daylight. 
A peculiarly beautiful pensile cocoon is constructed by a 
common British spider, scientifically termed Agelena bnmnea , 
but which has no popular name. 
The species whose beautiful nest will now be described is ' 
generally to be found upon commons, especially where gorse is 
abundant, as it generally hangs its nest to the prickly leaves of j; 
that shrub. The cocoon is shaped rather like a wine glass, 
and is always hung with the mouth downwards, being fastened 
by the stalk to a leaf or twig of the gorse. It is very small, 
only measuring a quarter of an inch in diameter, and when it is | 
first made, is of the purest white, so as to be plainly visible 
among the leaves. 
This purity, however, it retains but a very short time, for 
after the spider has deposited her eggs, which are quite 
