more and is
speedily recaptured by the sticky matter. There is no means of escape,
except by smashing the trap with a sudden effort whereof even powerful
insects are not always capable.

Warned by the shaking of the net, the Epeira hastens up; she turns round
about the quarry; she inspects it at a distance, so as to ascertain the
extent of the danger before attacking. The strength of the snareling
will decide the plan of campaign. Let us first suppose the usual case,
that of an average head of game, a Moth or Fly of some sort. Facing her
prisoner, the Spider contracts her abdomen slightly and touches the
insect for a moment with the end of her spinnerets; then, with her front
tarsi, she sets her victim spinning. The Squirrel, in the moving
cylinder of his cage, does not display a more graceful or nimbler
dexterity. A cross-bar of the sticky spiral serves as an axis for the
tiny machine, which turns, turns swiftly, like a spit. It is a treat to
the eyes to see it revolve.

What is the object of this circular motion? See, the brief contact of
the spinnerets has given a starting-point for a thread, which the Spider
must now draw from her silk-warehouse and gradually roll around the
captive, so as to swathe him in a winding-sheet which will overpower any
effort made. It is the exact process employed in our wire-mills: a motor-
driven spool revolves and, by its action, draws the wire through the
narrow eyelet of a steel plate, making it of the fineness required, and,
with the same movement, winds it round and round its collar.

Even so with the Epeira's work. The Spider's front tarsi are the motor;
the revolving spool is the captured insect; the steel eyelet is the
aperture of the spinnerets. To bind the subject with precision and
dispatch nothing could be better than this inexpensive and
highly-effective method.

Less frequently, a second process is employed. With a quick movement,
the Spider herself turns round about the motionless insect, crossing the
web first at the top and then at the bottom and gradually placing the
fastenings of her line. The great elasticity of the lime-threads allows
the Epeira to fling herself time after time right into the web and to
pass through it without damaging the net.

Let us now suppose the case of some dangerous game: a Praying Mantis, for
instance, brandishing her lethal limbs, each hooked and fitted with a
double saw; an angry Hornet, darting her awful sting; a sturdy