204 
NATURE’S CRAFTSMEN 
errs; moreover, when hotly pursued, she can dash 
up at a run, and disappear inside in a twinkling. 
Wise men say there is a very ingenious ‘ door 
knob ’ in this clever little door; one that human 
eyes cannot discern without the aid of a glass. 
It consists of two little holes into which the spi¬ 
der deftly thrusts her legs and pulls up the door; 
once inside, these legs are again thrust into the 
holes and the door drawn shut. 
“ The hinge of this fairy door is the final 
triumph of the little worker’s skill. It is made of 
layer after layer of strong, silky thread, thou¬ 
sands upon thousands of strands, all woven 
closely together, and then bound on one side to 
the door, and on the other to the shaft. Indeed, 
there is really no 4 join ’ on this latter side, for 
the deft hinge is in truth a continuation of the 
same silk which lines the little home. The hinge 
works perfectly, with never a creak or a bind, 
and withal the little door is so light and moves so 
freely that the spider easily lifts it with her head 
when she wishes to come out. 
44 On a certain occasion experimenters at San 
Diego, California, carried away the lids of sixty 
trap-door nests one evening. Next morning each 
spider had a new door fixed securely in place. 
The trick was played again and again. Each 
time the poor victims replaced the lost door, but 
with each rebuilding the workmanship decreased, 
