I should like an anatomist endowed with better implements than mine and with less tired eyesight to explain to us the work of the marvellous rope-yard.  How is the silky matter moulded into a capillary tube?  How is this tube filled with glue and tightly twisted?  And how does this same wire-mill also turn out plain threads, wrought first into a framework and then into muslin and satin; next, a russet foam, such as fills the wallet of the Banded Epeira; next, the black stripes stretched in meridian curves on that same wallet?  What a number of products to come from that curious factory, a Spider’s belly!  I behold the results, but fail to understand the working of the machine.  I leave the problem to the masters of the microtome and the scalpel.

CHAPTER XII:  THE GARDEN SPIDERS:  THE TELEGRAPH-WIRE

Of the six Garden Spiders that form the object of my observations, two only, the Banded and the silky Epeira, remain constantly in their webs, even under the blinding rays of a fierce sun.  The others, as a rule, do not show themselves until nightfall.  At some distance from the net, they have a rough and ready retreat in the brambles, an ambush made of a few leaves held together by stretched threads.  It is here that, for the most part, they remain in the daytime, motionless and sunk in meditation.

But the shrill light that vexes them is the joy of the fields.  At such times, the Locust hops more nimbly than ever, more gaily skims the Dragon-fly.  Besides, the limy web, despite the rents suffered during the night, is still in serviceable condition.  If some giddy-pate allow himself to be caught, will the Spider, at the distance whereto she has retired, be unable to take advantage of the windfall?  Never fear.  She arrives in a flash.  How is she apprised?  Let us explain the matter.

The alarm is given by the vibration of the web, much more than by the sight of the captured object.  A very simple experiment will prove this.  I lay upon a Banded Epeira’s lime-threads a Locust that second asphyxiated with carbon disulphide.  The carcass is placed in front, or behind, or at either side of the Spider, who sits moveless in the centre of the net.  If the test is to be applied to a species with a daytime hiding-place amid the foliage, the dead Locust is laid on the web, more or less near the centre, no matter how.

In both cases, nothing happens at first.  The Epeira remains in her motionless attitude, even when the morsel is at a short distance in front of her.  She is indifferent to the presence of the game, does not seem to perceive it, so much so that she ends by wearing out my patience.  Then, with a long straw, which enables me to conceal myself slightly, I set the dead insect trembling.

That is quite enough.  The Banded Epeira and the Silky Epeira hasten to the central floor; the others come down from the branch; all go to the Locust, swathe him with tape, treat him, in short, as they would treat a live prey captured under normal conditions.  It took the shaking of the web to decide them to attack.