Wonderful as are the webs which are spun by many spiders for the purpose of entrapping their prey, the houses which some of them make and live in, are, perhaps, even more extraordinary. The trap-door spiders inhabit various parts of the world, but are found in most abundance, or, at least, have attracted most attention, in the island of Jamaica. They, all of them, make a long tunnel or gallery, going down at a steep slant into the earth, and round the sides of this they spin a close web, which makes a strong, durable lining. This lining is double, and whilst the inner layer is soft and smooth like silk, the outer one, in which the spider lives, is so rough and flaky that it both looks and feels more like felt, or rough paper, or the bark of a tree, than a substance usually so delicate as the web of a spider. This roughness, however, is just what is required, since it enables the spider to run up and down its little tube, or tunnel, with the greatest ease. But the most wonderful part of this ingenious dwelling is the trap-door, at its entrance, from which the spider takes its name, and by which it has become famous. This, also, is woven by the spider, and is one in substance with the tube, to which it forms a little door, or lid, which fits its orifice as exactly as does the lid of a neatly made box. Like a box, too, it is attached to the tube by a hinge, the web, at the jointure, being spun in such a manner that we may well give it this name. Before the spider can either enter or leave its tube, the lid of it has to be lifted, and both the creature and its dwelling become, then, conspicuous objects. Once in or out, however, the lid drops, and as it fits into, as well as over, the orifice, there is then no break in the surface of the ground. Still, if the lid were made only of web, it would be discernible by close observation, since a little round patch of another material would be, as it were, let into the ground. The spider, however, as if fearing this, covers the exterior of the lid with earth which it brings from near about, and by the use of a gummy secretion which it has the power of exuding, causes to adhere to it. The lid, therefore, becomes practically a part of the surrounding earth, from which, when no longer raised above its surface, it is impossible to distinguish it.