




Prefatory Note 
problems which they meet in their strug- 
gle for existence. 
At the same time, no other field of. 
nature study is more accessible, for there 
is no locality where the spiders may not 
be found. Streams and woods, mead- 
ows, fields, and gardens all furnish 
dwelling-places for them; and here the 
busy little creatures hide their secrets 
which 
‘‘ They will surrender to the patient eye 
That seeks and waits.” 
If I have any purpose in writing this 
little book, other than the pleasure that 
comes from gathering scattered material 
into a whole, it is that some of my read- 
ers may be led to make the acquaintance 
of the spiders in their homes, in order 
-to know and to enjoy their interesting 
ways and habits. 
A. J. P. 
Normat, ILt., August 1, 1903. 
vi 
