62 LEAVES FROM THE BOOK OF NATURE. 



repast. Rains of frogs are even more frequent, and have, 

 since the days of Moses, occurred in almost every 

 country. 



Far more remarkable, however, are the spontaneous, 

 though casual, journeys of certain animals ; as, for in- 

 stance, those of the almost invisible gossamer of Europe, 

 floating in the air on a silvery thread. They were a 

 marvel to former days, and Chaucer even says 



"As sore some wonder at the cause of thunder, 

 On ebb and flood, on gosomer, and mist, 

 And on all thing till the cause is wist" 



The tiny aeronauts may be seen, on almost any fine day 

 in autumn, spinning a wondrously fine thread, without fas- 

 tening it, and then letting it waft about, until it is strong 

 enough to carry them. All of a sudden they shoot out 

 their web, and mount aloft, even when no air is stirring. 

 And on these slender threads they travel, we know not 

 how far, for Darwin found, three hundred miles from 

 shore, thousands of these little red sailors of the air, each 

 on its own line, fall down upon his vessel. Various and 

 curious have been the surmises as to the precise nature 

 of their mysterious power to float in the air. As they 

 are mostly observed on misty days-, when a heavy dew 

 falls, it has been thought that their filmy thread might 

 get entangled in the rising dew, and by its brisk eva- 

 poration .be enabled to rise even with the additional weight 

 of the spider. Others have discovered that the little crea- 

 tures are quite familiar with the laws of electricity, and 

 avail themselves of it for their airy voyages. Their 



