DEW AND FROST. 



229 



Most marked of all the effects of a heavy dew 

 is the beading of a spider's web. A more ex- 

 quisite object than a dew-spangled gossamer I 

 have never seen. Within a week I saw a single 

 silken strand that reached a rod in length, and 

 not a break was there in the row of sparkling 

 beads that clung to it. At the same time, from 

 rail to rail of the roadside fence were stretched 

 the marvelous weavings of the geometric spider, 

 and every horizontal thread was dew-laden. I 

 waited until the sun broke through the bank of 

 clouds in the east, anticipating a splendid ex- 

 hibition, nor was I disappointed. Alas ! that 

 language is so inadequate to one's needs, when 

 such magnificence is before us. What the spi- 

 ders may think of dew remains to be determined. 

 As I prodded several of them, and forced them 

 to the fore, they were a sorry-looking set, and 

 shook their webs and themselves in a discon- 

 solate way, as though chilled to the core. An 

 hour later, as I passed by, their energy had re- 

 vived. 



And now what of dew as a weather sign ? I 

 turn to the " weather proverbs " that have been 

 gathered and made into a little book (Signal 

 Service Notes, No. IX), and find the sum and 

 substance of fourteen " sayings " to be that dew 

 in summer and autumn is indicative of fair days ; 

 the absence of it, of rain. " If your feet you wet 



