f different
species; and the struggle for life often leads to these exterminations
among such as are not akin. What would happen if the two belonged to the
same species? It is easily seen. I cannot rely upon spontaneous
invasions, which may be rare under normal conditions, and I myself place
a Banded Epeira on her kinswoman's web. A furious attack is made
forthwith. Victory, after hanging for a moment in the balance, is once
again decided in the stranger's favour. The vanquished party, this time
a sister, is eaten without the slightest scruple. Her web becomes the
property of the victor.

There it is, in all its horror, the right of might: to eat one's like and
take away their goods. Man did the same in days of old: he stripped and
ate his fellows. We continue to rob one another, both as nations and as
individuals; but we no longer eat one another: the custom has grown
obsolete since we discovered an acceptable substitute in the mutton-chop.

Let us not, however, blacken the Spider beyond her deserts. She does not
live by warring on her kith and kin; she does not of her own accord
attempt the conquest of another's property. It needs extraordinary
circumstances to rouse her to these villainies. I take her from her web
and place her on another's. From that moment, she knows no distinction
between _meum_ and _tuum_: the thing which the leg touches at once
becomes real estate. And the intruder, if she be the stronger, ends by
eating the occupier, a radical means of cutting short disputes.

Apart from disturbances similar to those provoked by myself, disturbances
that are possible in the everlasting conflict of events, the Spider,
jealous of her own web, seems to respect the webs of others. She never
indulges in brigandage against her fellows except when dispossessed of
her net, especially in the daytime, for weaving is never done by day:
this work is reserved for the night. When, however, she is deprived of
her livelihood and feels herself the stronger, then she attacks her
neighbour, rips her open, feeds on her and takes possession of her goods.
Let us make allowances and proceed.

We will now examine Spiders of more alien habits. The Banded and the
Silky Epeira differ greatly in form and colouring. The first has a
plump, olive-shaped belly, richly belted with white, bright-yellow and
black; the second's abdomen is flat, of a silky white and pinked into
festoons. Judging only by dress and figure, we s