s; but the work of the spinnerets is at once
resumed.

The next business is to close the bag. The machinery works a little
differently. The tip of the belly no longer sways from side to side. It
sinks and touches a point; it retreats, sinks again and touches another
point, first here, then there, describing inextricable zigzags. At the
same time, the hind-legs tread the material emitted. The result is no
longer a stuff, but a felt, a blanketing.

Around the satin capsule, which contains the eggs, is the eiderdown
destined to keep out the cold. The youngsters will bide for some time in
this soft shelter, to strengthen their joints and prepare for the final
exodus. It does not take long to make. The spinning-mill suddenly
alters the raw material: it was turning out white silk; it now furnishes
reddish-brown silk, finer than the other and issuing in clouds which the
hind-legs, those dexterous carders, beat into a sort of froth. The egg-
pocket disappears, drowned in this exquisite wadding.

The balloon-shape is already outlined; the top of the work tapers to a
neck. The Spider, moving up and down, tacking first to one side and then
to the other, from the very first spray marks out the graceful form as
accurately as though she carried a compass in her abdomen.

Then, once again, with the same suddenness, the material changes. The
white silk reappears, wrought into thread. This is the moment to weave
the outer wrapper. Because of the thickness of the stuff and the density
of its texture, this operation is the longest of the series.

First, a few threads are flung out, hither and thither, to keep the layer
of wadding in position. The Epeira takes special pains with the edge of
the neck, where she fashions an indented border, the angles of which,
prolonged with cords or lines, form the main support of the building. The
spinnerets never touch this part without giving it, each time, until the
end of the work, a certain added solidity, necessary to secure the
stability of the balloon. The suspensory indentations soon outline a
crater which needs plugging. The Spider closes the bag with a padded
stopper similar to that with which she sealed the egg-pocket.

When these arrangements are made, the real manufacture of the wrapper
begins. The Spider goes backwards and forwards, turns and turns again.
The spinnerets do not touch the fabric. With a rhythmical, alternate
movement, the hind-legs, the sole implements