(fig. 2). These are made by special
glands, and differ from the ordinary threads in that they do not dry on
being exposed to the air. They serve the purpose of bird-lime--that is
to say, they are there to aid in entangling insects which fly up against
the web. Having spread his net, the spider returns to a little shelter
woven on the under side of a leaf. Here he waits for his victims,
holding in one of his claws a long, delicate thread attached to the web,
so as to serve as a means of communication with the trap, the vibrations
set up by the struggles of the captive giving warning by shaking the
communication cord! He then rushes out, if the victim be small, and
throwing himself upon the wretched prisoner, sucks him dry and cuts away
the web so as to release the empty carcase. Should a wasp or bee happen
to be caught, the proceedings are much more cautious, and the spider
himself often proves the victim.

[Illustration: Fig. 1.--Silkworm, natural size.]

Spiders when small often use their spinnerets much as the witches of old
were supposed to use a broom-stick--that is to say, as a means of
travelling through the air. Turning the end of the body upwards they
force out a few threads, which, caught by the breeze, are blown away,
and so a number of long threads are rapidly drawn out, sufficiently long
at last to carry the spider itself with them. When too heavy to fly,
they sometimes send a thread adrift and wait until it catches in some
projecting bough; this done, they make fast the end to the bough or leaf
on which they may be resting, and climb along this tight-rope to build a
new home.

[Illustration: Fig. 2.--Silk Threads of Spider's Web, highly magnified.]

The floating threads formed by broods of small spiders are sometimes
very numerous, and cover everything: they are especially noticeable in
hedges, and are one of the causes of what is called in the country
'Gossamer.'

W. P. PYCRAFT, F.Z.S., A.L.S.

AFLOAT ON THE DOGGER BANK.

A Story of Adventure on the North Sea and in China.

(_Continued from page 303._)

CHAPTER XIII.

The journey up-river was a very tedious one, and promised to be longer
than Ping Wang had expected, for, as soon as darkness came up, the boat
was moored for the night near a riverside village. The boatman declared,
in a very humble tone, that he dared not go any further until daybreak
for fear of being attacked by pirates.

On the following morning, at daybreak, the jo