Soap Bubbles
and the Forces which Mould Them

THE FORCES WHICH MOULD THEM. 1^5 be seen, take a small flat ring of any material, or a piece of card-board with a hole cut out with a gun-wad cutter, or otherwise. Smear the face of the ring, or the card, with a very- little strong gum. Choose a freshly-made web, and then pass the ring, or the card, across the web so that some of the spiral web (not the central part of the web) remains stretched across the hole. This must be done without touching or damaging the pieces that are stretched across, except at their ends. The beads are too small to be seen with the naked eye. A strong magnifying-glass, or a low power microscope, will show the beads and their marvellous regularity. The beads on the webs of very young spiders are not so regular as those on spiders that are fully grown. Those beautiful beads, easily visible to the naked eye, on spider lines in the early morning of an autumn day, are not made by the spider, but are simply dew. They very perfectly show the spherical form of small water-drops.