232 
THE LIVING WORLD. 
appears, pale, soft, Hairless, and with small claws upon its feet; but when the ex¬ 
uviation is completed it looks like a true spider. The process of moulting is not 
confined to the earlier periods, but extends throughout the life of the spider. 
The outer spinning-organs consist of two-jointed tubes, a large number of which 
are to be found on each spinneret. The hind feet are used to guide the 
threads and to regulate the supply. 
The devices used by the spider are so numerous and so varied as to have 
made it the symbol of persistent cunning. One kind makes for its nest a door 
of earth held together by a web, so as to simulate the firm ground; another 
provides an inside door, which can be used in case of house-breakers. 
The spider commonly seen on the banks of streams is attractive from its 
beauty and engineering skill, as well as from the facility with which it adapts 
itself to all changes 
of locality, climate or 
surroundings. It is 
a silvery drab on the 
head and thorax, 
while in striking 
contrast is the ab¬ 
domen, which is 
black, yellow, or 
brown, and the legs, 
whose color*is orange 
ringed with black or 
brown. Long before 
the idea occurred to 
man did this small 
creature span the 
waters with suspen¬ 
sion bridges. Fast¬ 
ening a thread to 
some support, it 
spins another series 
of threads, which, 
taken up by the wind, 
are finally blown 
across the stream and entangled in some bush or tree. Then the spider , using 
this first strand as a road-way, makes a parallel cord, and afterwards weaves 
with mathematical exactness, and upon the most exact engineering principles, a 
circular, wheel-like trap for its prey. 
The Mason Spider [Mygale) builds in timber or walls. It is a native of 
the tropics. The Mygale nidulans a West Indian creature, digs an oblique 
hole an inch in diameter and three inches in extent. This she lines with 
webbing until it attains the consistency of leather, when she supplies it with 
a door which opens and shuts at the pleasure of the owner. The orange-white 
color of the web shows that this spider is less provincial than our society 
people, for it has anticipated them in house decorations, and has even yet an 
advantage over the skill of the modern house-furnisher. The door is circular 
and of exceptional thickness and strength, and the hinges act automatically in 
BUSH SPIDER- 
