. American spiders and their spinningwork. A natural history of the orbweaving spiders of the United States, with special regard to their industry and habits . ver did not see the spider actually using the pebble as a counterpoise; that is to say, in the act of suspending it upon ui one. ^j^^ j.^^^ j^^ ^^.^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ ^.j^^^ possible benefit could have been obtained from staying the orb by a pebble hanging above the ground,when an attachment to the solid earth below in the usual manner, or to 1 Sopra la tela dell Epeira umbratica: Atti Soc. Veneto-Trentina di Sc. Nat. Padova;1876; Vol. 3, page
. American spiders and their spinningwork. A natural history of the orbweaving spiders of the United States, with special regard to their industry and habits . ver did not see the spider actually using the pebble as a counterpoise; that is to say, in the act of suspending it upon ui one. ^j^^ j.^^^ j^^ ^^.^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ ^.j^^^ possible benefit could have been obtained from staying the orb by a pebble hanging above the ground,when an attachment to the solid earth below in the usual manner, or to 1 Sopra la tela dell Epeira umbratica: Atti Soc. Veneto-Trentina di Sc. Nat. Padova;1876; Vol. 3, pages 204-5; Tav. VI. e VII. I regret that the particular number of this jour-nal in which the reference is made does not happen to he in the librarj- of our Academyof Natural Sciences, and I have not, therefore, been able to consult the original. 216 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. a pebble fixed tlierein, wouhl have been more advantageous to the spider?This is equally true of all known cases of counterpoise. After liaving cited my opinion, as comnnmicated in my letter to , Professor Parona expresses, though with some reserve, his belief. Fig. 204. Swinging nest of the Shamrock spider, Epeira trifolium. that the act recorded by him was an intentional one on the part of counterpoise could not have been lifted up from the garden path, as no such material entered into the composition thereof. ItView ^^^ evidently come from the vault above, as it was of the same material, and retained living tufts of a moss that grew uponthe overhauging vault. Moreover, if I correctly understand Professor Iarona, ENGINEERING SKILL OF SPIDERS. 217 the distance of the web (counterpoise?) from the ground was about ametre and a half, which would seem to preclude the theory that it liadbeen raised up from the ground by the elasticity of the web, or themechanical imjiact of the wind. Nevertheless, I am constrained to believe that in this case also tlieexplanation of intentional e
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