THE SNARE-WEAVERS. 
197 
light that, like others as small as itself, it is often 
carried up in the air as its thread is caught in the 
light breeze. It is probably from the threads of 
these tiny spiders that the gossamer webs are 
formed, which may be sometimes seen on a bright 
summer morning hanging in the air entangled in 
each other, either empty or with their owners within 
them. 
Fig 68. 
Water- Spider * with its dome-shaped cell full of air. 
Whether they are large or small, however, we 
find in all spiders the same poison fangs, the same 
complex thread, and the same scrupulous neatness 
and cleanliness, which makes them keep every joint 
and hair of the body free from dust and dirt, and 
leads them to avoid any dead and decaying food 
with disgust ; and a quickness of intelligence which 
* Argyromta aqua tic a. 
