THE SPIDER 143 
carries it to some suitable support, to which, being viscid, it 
firmly adheres. When the first line is secured, other foun- 
dation threads are thrown out in such a way as to radiate 
from a point like the spokes of a wheel. These are then 
seized by the claws and pulled taut. The next process is to 
lay the cross threads which are finer than the “ray” threads 
or framework of the web, In placing these the Spider starts 
from the centre and goes round and round stretching a 
series of short threads between the rays, and following a 
spiral round the centre. The spiral threads are covered 
with little beads of gum, which serve to hold any insect 
coming in contact with them. The centre of the web is 
free from this viscid substance, for it is there that the 
Spider lies in wait for its prey. The spiral threads are 
renewed each day so that the snare is always in readiness 
for the capture of victims. 
The web is built mainly, if not entirely, for the canta of 
insects. The Spider waits for his prey either in the middle 
of the web, or in some convenient hiding place close by. 
If he leaves the web, he draws after him a “ signal-line,” by 
means of which he instantly knows what is going on, for 
the shaking of the web by causing the signal-line to vibrate 
at once reaches him. If the insect be a small one, the sticky 
substance on the web is sufficient to hold it, and it may be 
left where it is until the spider is ready to devour it. If, on 
the other hand, the victim be large and powerful, it is 
surrounded with silken threads and then killed by means 
of the poison fangs. As soon as it is killed, the Spider either 
sucks the juices out of its body —or, rejecting such hard 
dry portions as the wings, cuts up the body into small 
pieces which are drawn into its mouth. 
The Spider lays eggs from which the young are produced. 
Unlike the egg of the insect, which develops into a larvae, 
the Spider’s egg hatches directly into a young Spider. The. 
