OF SELBORNE. 225 
meshes of which a copious and heavy dew hung so 
plentifully, that the whole face of the country seem- 
ed, as it were, covered with two or three setting. 
nets drawn one over another. When the dogs at- 
tempted to hunt, their eyes were so blinded and 
hoodwinked that they could not proceed, but were 
obliged to lie down and scrape the encumbrances 
from their faces with their fore feet; so that, find- 
ing my sport interrupted, I returned home, musing 
in my mind on the oddness of the occurrence. 
As the morning advanced, the sun became bright 
and warm, and the day turned out one of those 
most lovely ones which no season but the autumn 
produces: cloudless, calm, serene, and worthy of 
the south of France itself. 
About nine, an appearance very unusual began 
to demand our attention: a shower of cobwebs 
falling from very elevated regions, and continuing, 
without any interruption, till the close of the day. 
These webs were not single filmy threads, float- 
ing in the air in all directions, but perfect flakes or 
rags, some near an inch broad, and five or six long, 
which fell with a degree of velocity that showed 
they were considerably heavier than the atmo- 
sphere. q 
On every side, as the observer turned his eyes, 
he might behold a continual succession of fresh 
flakes falling into his sight, and twinkling like stars 
as they turned their sides towards the sun. 
How far this wonderful shower extended would 
be difficult to say; but we know that it reached 
Bradley, Selborne, and Alresford, three places 
which lie in a sort of a triangle, the shortest of 
whose sides is about eight miles in extent. 
