150 FLYING SPIDERS. 
in length, and which, in its general appearance, resembled a Citi- 
grade (therefore quite different from the gossamer spider), while 
standing on the summit of a post, darted forth four or five threads 
from its spinners. These, glittering in the sunshine, might be 
compared to rays of light. They were not, however, straight, 
but in undulations like a film of silk blown by the wind. The 
were more than a yard in length and diverged in an ascending 
direction from the orifices. The spider then suddenly let go its 
hold and was quickly borne out of sight. The day was hot and 
apparently quite calm; yet under such circumstances the atmos- 
phere can never be so tranquil as not to -affect a vane so delicate 
as the thread of a spider’s web. If during a warm day we look 
either at the shadow of any object cast on a bank, or over a level 
plain, at a distant landmark, the effect of an ascending current 
of heated air will almost always be evident, and this probably 
would be sufficient to carry with it so light an object as the little 
spider on its thread.” 
In Temple’s Travels in Peru* it is mentioned that, when sailing 
up the river Plate, “the rigging of the ship, from top to bottom, 
was literally covered with long, fine cobwebs that had been blown 
off the shore, having attached to them their insect manufacturers, 
who dispersed themselves in thousands over the deck.” 
Such showers of cobwebs are common in Europe, especially in 
the autumn. They are said to be usually preceded by a great 
quantity of web upon the ground, which afterwards rises, and 
when the wind changes, or the sun begins to go down, falls again: 
Mr. Blackwall,+ who has devoted many years to the study of 
English spiders, gives the following interesting account of one 
of these showers of gossamer : — 
ever, notwithstanding their great abundance, that they must have , 
i n 
been produced in a very short space of time, as early in the 
morning they were not sufficiently conspicuous to attract my 
notice, and on the 30th of September they could not have ex- 
Cee 
*Temple’s Travels in Peru, Vol. i, p. 49. 
t Researches in Natural History, 1832. Linnæan Transactions, Vol. XV- 
