SUPPLEMENT
TO
TRAP-DOOR SPIDERS.
There would doubtless be a just feeling of pride and
satisfaction in the heart of a naturalist who could say
that he had made himself thoroughly acquainted with
all the species of a particular group of animals, had
learned their most secret habits, and mastered their
several relations to the objects, animate and inanimate,
which surrounded them. But perhaps a still
keener pleasure is enjoyed by one who carries about
with him some problem of the kind but partially
solved, and who, holding in his hand the clue which
shall guide him onwards, sees in each new place that
he visits fresh opportunities of discovery. The latter
is certainly the condition of those who take an interest
in searching out the habits and characters of trap-door
spiders; for this subject, far from being exhausted,
expands under the light of recently acquired facts,
and invites research in many parts of Europe, north
as well as south.
We have only to compare the number of types of trap-door nest which were known before the publication of Ants and Spiders, with those at present re-
