Page:The Life of the Spider.djvu/29

Preface a still more astonishing system of hatching. Here, the lid of the egg is not riveted, as in the case of the Pentatomidæ, but simply glued. At the moment of liberation, the lid rises and we see:

'... a spherical vesicle emerge from the shell and gradually expand, like a soap-bubble blown through a straw. Driven further and further back by the extension of this bladder, the lid falls.

'Then the bomb bursts; in other words, the blister, swollen beyond its capacity of resistance, rips at the top. This envelope, which is an extremely tenuous membrane, generally remains clinging to the edge of the orifice, where it forms a high, white rim. At other times, the explosion loosens it and flings it outside the shell. In those conditions, it is a dainty cup, half spherical, with torn edges, lengthened out below into a delicate, winding stalk.'

Now, how is this miraculous explosion produced? J. H. Fabre assumes that:

'Very slowly, as the little animal takes shape and grows, this bladder-shaped 25