42 



seen a newly ploughed field one tissue of beautiful 

 gossamer, and woven in the course of little more 

 than two hours. This reticular web intercepts the 

 dew ; and its pearly drops, of extreme minuteness, re- 

 fract the solar ray, and glow with all the beauties of 

 the prism. There can be little doubt that these are 

 carnivorous, like the rest of the species, and that they 

 obtain their food at very great elevations, and at alti- 

 tudes, we conceive, where they could not find moisture ; 

 they must of necessity therefore alight at night, weave 

 their web to entangle the dew, for this they greedily 

 absorb, and without which, if our observations and 

 experiments be correct, they could not exist. At first 

 sight, it might be supposed, that there exists no 

 necessity for their weaving such a reservoir for mois- 

 ture ; but its importance will appear when we consider 

 that the leaves of plants secrete carbonic acid gas at 

 night, and therefore the dew that condenses on foliage, 

 being necessarily saturated with this gas, might 

 prove a nauseous and fatal beverage to these crea- 

 tures. 



The buoyant principle of these aeronauts has been 

 the subject of much speculation and curious conjec- 

 ture. " Its Creator," says the author of " The Natural 

 History of Insects," in that elegant little work, the 

 " Family Library," " hath laid for it a path in the 

 atmosphere ; and after this manner, though the insect 

 itself be heavier than the air, the thread that it spins 

 from its bowels is specifically lighter. This is its 

 balloon. The spider, left to itself, would drop to the 

 ground; but being tied to its thread, both are sup- 

 ported." Now, if this supposition of the ingenious 

 author were proved to be correct, the ascent of the 

 insect into the atmosphere admits of an easy solution, 

 and there is no more difficulty in the case than in 



