found all arts
vain, began to demolish the new web without mercy. This brought on
another battle, and, contrary to my expectations, the laborious spider
became conqueror, and fairly killed his antagonist.

Now, then, in peaceable possession of what was justly its own, it
waited three days with the utmost impatience, repairing the breaches
of its web, and taking no sustenance that I could perceive. At last,
however, a large blue fly fell into the snare, and struggled hard to
get loose. The spider gave it leave to entangle itself as much as
possible, but it seemed to be too strong for the cobweb. I must own I
was greatly surprized when I saw the spider immediately sally out,
and in less than a minute weave a new net around its captive, by which
the motion of its wings was stopt; and when it was fairly hampered in
this manner, it was seized and dragged into the hole.

In this manner it lived in a precarious state; and nature seemed to
have fitted it for such a life, for upon a single fly it subsisted for
more than a week. I once put a wasp into the net; but when the spider
came out in order to seize it as usual, upon perceiving what kind of
an enemy it had to deal with, it instantly broke all the bands that
held it fast and contributed all that lay in its power to disengage so
formidable an antagonist. When the wasp was at liberty, I expected the
spider would have set about repairing the breaches that were made in
its net, but those it seems were irreparable; wherefore the cobweb was
now entirely forsaken, and a new one begun, which was completed in the
usual time.

I had now a mind to try how many cobwebs a single spider could
furnish; wherefore I destroyed this, and the insect set about another.
When I destroyed the other also its whole stock seemed entirely
exhausted, and it could spin no more. The arts it made use of to
support itself, now deprived of its great means of subsistence, were
indeed surprizing. I have seen it roll up its legs like a ball and lie
motionless for hours together, but cautiously watching all the time.
When a fly happened to approach sufficiently near, it would dart out
all at once, and often seize its prey.

Of this life, however, it soon began to grow weary, and resolved to
invade the possession of some other spider, since it could not make a
web of its own. It formed an attack upon a neighboring fortification
with great vigor, and at first was as vigorously repulsed. Not
daunted, however,