184 NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE. 



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 de- 

 mand our attention — a shower of cobwebs falling from 

 very elevated regions, and continuing, without any inter- 

 ruption, 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 atmos- 

 phere. 



On every side as the observer turned his eyes might he 

 behold a continual succession of fresh flakes falling into 

 his sight, and twinkling like stars as they turned their 

 sides towards the sun. 



How far this wonderful shower extended would be 

 difficult to say ; but we know that it reached Bradley, 

 Selborne, and Alresford, three places which lie in a sort of 

 a triangle, the shortest of whose sides is about eight miles 

 in extent. 



At the second of those places there was a gentleman (for 

 whose veracity and intelligent turn we have the greatest 

 veneration) who observed it the moment he got abroad ; 

 but concluded that, as soon as he came upon the hill above 

 his house, where he took his morning rides he should be 

 higher than this meteor, which he imagined might have 

 been blown, like thistle-down, from the common above ; 

 but, to his great astonishment, when he rode to the most 

 elevated part of the down, three hundred feet above his 

 fields, he found the webs in appearance still as much above 

 him as before ; still descending into sight in a constant 

 succession, and twinkling in the sun, so as to draw the 

 attention of the most incurious, 



