252 
NATURE’S CRAFTSMEN 
the center of a deftly fashioned hut of silken 
thread. Then she makes fast her thread and 
goes outside to have a look at the house. What 
a quaint little dome-shaped affair it is! It looks 
very much like a miniature Eskimo hut. But 
there is no door in the side. Indeed, at first 
glance, there does not seem to be any door at all. 
But of course there is, else how could the spider 
herself have come out? If we could swim under 
the hut through the narrow channel between the 
stones, we should see that the door is placed in 
the floor; moreover, it stands open most invit¬ 
ingly. How many unwary minnows, water bugs, 
tiny crabs and other sea folk essay to pass that 
way to their undoing? Who shall say: for of 
course, Madam Argyroneta is an expert fisher, 
and it is in this clever manner that she essays to 
stock her larder. 
“ But there is another reason for having the 
door opening from the floor into the water: you 
know that air never sinks in water. And there 
must be a good supply of air in the dome at all 
times, for here the little Argyroneta babies are 
domiciled until thev are able to care for them- 
%/ 
selves. Whenever the little mother comes down 
from the surface, she always brings a load of 
fresh air held securely in her hairy coat. Once 
inside the hut this life-giving oxygen is released: 
the roof of the dome prevents its escape, and, of 
