Linnea7i Socktj/. 297 



serene bright weather, and is invariably preceded by gossamer 

 on the ground. He then details the pha^nomena of a remarkable 

 ascent of gossamer, October 1, 1826, when, a little before noon 

 the ground was everywhere covered with it, the day being calm 

 and sunny. A vast quantity of the fine shining lines were then 

 seen in the act of ascending, and becoming attached to each 

 other in various ways in their motion, and were evidently not 

 formed in the air but on the earth, and carried up by the ascend- 

 ing current caused by the rarefaction near the heated ground ; 

 and when this had ceased in the afternoon, they were perceived 

 to fall. An account is added of two minute spiders that produce 

 gossamer, and of their mode of spinning, and particularly when 

 impelled by the desire of traversing the air, they climb to the 

 summits of various objects, and thence emit the viscous thread 

 in such a manner as that it may be drawn out to a great length 

 and fineness by the ascending current, until, feeling themselves 

 sufficiently acted upon by it, they quit hold of the objects on 

 which they stood, and commence their flight. Some of these 

 animals, which were taken for the purpose of observation, when 

 exposed to a slight current of air, always turned the thorax to 

 the quarter from whence it came, and emitted a portion of glu- 

 tinous mutter, Avhich was carried out into a line. 



June 19. — Descriptions were read Of tico quadnipcch inhabil- 

 ing the South of Africa, about the Cape of Good Hope ; by 

 Andrew Smith, M.D. Superintendent of the South-African 

 INIuseum. 



The first of these is the Strand Wolf or Strand Jut of the 

 colonists ; and is named by the authour llya;na villosa. Some of 

 its habits are noticed in confirmation of the conjectures of Pro- 

 fessor Buckland, with regard to the habits of the Kirkdale 

 hyaenas. 



An account was also read Of a pair of hinder hands of an 

 Orang outang of unusual size, deposited in the collection of the 

 Trinity House, Hull ; by J. Ilarwood, i\l.D. F.L.S., &c. 



In this paper the authonr corrects the statements of Dr. Abel 

 respecting the height of the Orang outang ; and maintains that 

 the Pongo is not tlie Simia Satijrus, Linn., as supposed by Cuvier 



