webs. Here is one spreading its sheet over a
large cluster of rock-roses; it is the size of a handkerchief. A
profusion of guy-ropes, attached to any chance projection, moor it to the
brushwood. There is not a twig but supplies a contact-point. Entwined
on every side, surrounded and surmounted, the bush disappears from view,
veiled in white muslin.

The web is flat at the edges, as far as the unevenness of the support
permits, and gradually hollows into a crater, not unlike the bell of a
hunting-horn. The central portion is a cone-shaped gulf, a funnel whose
neck, narrowing by degrees, dives perpendicularly into the leafy thicket
to a depth of eight or nine inches.

At the entrance to the tube, in the gloom of that murderous alley, sits
the Spider, who looks at us and betrays no great excitement at our
presence. She is grey, modestly adorned on the thorax with two black
ribbons and on the abdomen with two stripes in which white specks
alternate with brown. At the tip of the belly, two small, mobile
appendages form a sort of tail, a rather curious feature in a Spider.

The crater-shaped web is not of the same structure throughout. At the
borders, it is a gossamer weft of sparse threads; nearer the centre, the
texture becomes first fine muslin and then satin; lower still, on the
narrower part of the opening, it is a network of roughly lozenged meshes.
Lastly, the neck of the funnel, the usual resting-place, is formed of
solid silk.

The Spider never ceases working at her carpet, which represents her
investigation-platform. Every night she goes to it, walks over it,
inspecting her snares, extending her domain and increasing it with new
threads. The work is done with the silk constantly hanging from the
spinnerets and constantly extracted as the animal moves about. The neck
of the funnel, being more often walked upon than the rest of the
dwelling, is therefore provided with a thicker upholstery. Beyond it are
the slopes of the crater, which are also much-frequented regions. Spokes
of some regularity fix the diameter of the mouth; a swaying walk and the
guiding aid of the caudal appendages have laid lozengy meshes across
these spokes. This part has been strengthened by the nightly rounds of
inspection. Lastly come the less-visited expanses, which consequently
have a thinner carpet.

At the bottom of the passage dipping into the brushwood, we might expect
to find a secret cabin, a wadded cell where the Sp