INSECT AERONAUTS. 



" Sore wond'ren some on cause of thunder, 

 On ebb and flood, on gossamer and mist, 

 And on all things, till that the cause is wist." 



THE weather is dry, warm, and still, yet without a gleam of 

 sunshine, a combination of winter gloom with almost summer 

 mildness. Gossamer is floating or falling slowly through the 

 air, numerous spiders are hanging, motionless, head down- 

 wards, in the centre of their geometric webs, lying in wait for 

 prey, while others, restlessly ascending blades of grass or rail- 

 posts, are inwardly invoking, we suspect, the presence of some 

 gentle air, to assist them in shooting their lines, those threads of 



