HOLY ROOD TIDE. 265 



SEPT. 21. St. Matthew, apostle. 

 St. Maura, virgin, 850. 

 St. Lo, bishop of Contances, 568. 



Obs. St. Matthew seems to have been a Galilean by birth, and 

 was by profession a publican or gatherer of ta?:es for the Romans, 

 which office was equally odious and scandalous among the Jews. 

 St. Matthew was sittingin his custom house when he was called by 

 Jesus to follow him, and perfectly understood what an exchange he 

 made from wealth to poverty in complj'ing with our Lord's request; 

 but he overlooked all these considerations to become his disciple. 

 St. Matthew wrote his Gospel to satisfy the converts of Palestine. 

 After having made a great harvest of souls in Judaea, he went to 

 preach the faith to the barbarous and uncivilized nations of the 

 east. St. Paulinus mentions that he ended his course in Parthia ; 

 Venantius Fortunatus relates that he suffered martyrdom atNada- 

 bar, a city in those parts. — From Butler's Lives. 



Ciliated Passionflower Passiflora ciliata fl. 



Often about this time the ground is covered with innumerable 

 Spiders' webs, crossing the paths from shrub to shrub, and floating 

 in the air. This is called Gossamer, and is caused by a multitude 

 of small Spiders, which, when they want to change their place, have 

 a power of shooting forth long threads, to which they attach them- 

 selves, and, thus becoming buoyant, are carried gently through the 

 Jiir as long as they please; after which, by coiling up their threads, 

 they come down very gradually to the ground. A remarkable 

 shower of Gossamer is described in the following quotation from 

 Whites Natural History of Selhome : — " On Sept. 21, 1741, being 

 intent on field diversions, 1 rose before daybreak ; when I came into 

 the enclosures, I found the stubbles and clovergrounds 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 coun- 

 try seemed, as it were, covered with two or three setting nets, drawn 

 one over another. When the dogs attempted to hunt, their eyes 

 v?ere so blinded and hoodwinked that they could not proceed, but 

 were obliged to lie down and scrape the incumbrances from their 

 faces with their forefeet." " 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 continu- 

 ing without any interruption till the close of day. These webs were 

 not single filmy threads, floating in the air in all directions, but per- 

 fect flakes or rags, some near an inch broad, and five or six long. 

 On every side, as the observer turned his eyes, might he behold a 

 continual succession of fresh flakes falling into his sight, and twink- 

 ling like stars." 



Aa 



