[Illustration: THE GARDEN SPIDER.]
As we can only find time to study one spider, this shall be the one, for we
have not to go far to look for it.
First let us consider why it makes its beautiful web, so slender and so
easily destroyed that it is used as an emblem of the "hypocrite's hope"
which "shall not endure"; and yet so strong when we think of the little
creature whose cunning "hands" have woven it. The spider lives upon flies
and other insects, but is itself without wings, so that it would be
impossible for it to catch its prey if it had not been given power which
the animals on which it feeds do not possess--the power to lay snares; this
is why it takes such trouble with its beautiful web, and makes the cords
from which it is woven so fine, and yet so strong. The web is the snare in
which the insects on which it lives are caught, and from which they have no
power to escape, for as soon as the insect is entangled, the spider, in his
hiding-place, knows by the shaking of the threads that his prey is secure,
pounces upon it, benumbs it by one prick of his poison-fang, binds it fast
with silken threads, and carries it off to his "dismal den," as the verse
about "the spider and the fly" calls the place where he lies in wait for
any winged thing which may "come buzzing by."
But this subtle and beautiful snare--how is it made? Where do the threads
which form the silken meshes come from? Ah! you have seen the cocoons
which silkworms spin, have you not? The weaver-spiders get their threads
just as the silkworms do, from their own bodies; each thread comes from an
exceedingly small hole; there are four of these holes in the spider's body,
and the threads are made of a sort of gum which is almost liquid, but which
becomes hard when it is exposed to the air.
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