GOSSAMER. 



LETTER LXV. 



TO THE HON. DAINES BARRINGTON. 



SELBORNE, June 8, 1775. 

 DEAR SIR, 



ON September the 2 1 st, 1741, Ijeing then on a 

 visit, and intent on field diversions, I rose before 

 daybreak : when I came into the enclosures, I found 

 the stubbles and clover grounds matted all over 

 with a thick coat of cobweb, in the meshes of which 

 a copious and heavy dew hung so plentifully that 

 the whole face of the country seemed, as it were, 

 covered with two or three setting-nets, drawn one 

 over another. When the dogs attempted to hunt, 

 their eyes were so blinded and hoodwinked that they 

 could not proceed but were obliged to lie down and 

 scrape the incumbrances from their faces with their 

 fore feet ; so that, finding 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 pro- 

 duces, 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, floating 

 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 atmosphere. 



