
130 

KIDD'’S OWN JOURNAL. 

their sweet laugh. We felt spell-bound when 
we handed their fairest of all fair forms into 
their little carriage. And oh! that look— 
oh! those matchless eyes that spoke the 
unuttered words—Good bye! We distinctly 
hear the receding wheels of that little car- 
riage now. 
But as we are not going to write an article 
to-day upon the characteristic habits of those 
we love and esteem; we throw down our pen 
at once—else should we be constrained to let 
it utter what we feel it longs to pour forth. 
“There is a time for all things under the 
sun.” 
SEASONABLE TOPICS. 
GOSSAMER. 
WE HAVE ON A NUMBER OF occasions 
directed attention to the fine-spun webs 
floating in the air, and known as gossamer. 
At this particular season, early-risers (and 
we hope every one of OUR country readers 
rise early) may see them in all their glitter- 
ing beauty. No money can purchase a sight 
like this. 
Nor are these webs to be viewed without 
a feeling of intense curiosity. We would 
know whence they come,—how they are 
formed, and what their object. Minutely, 
infinitesimally small though they be, let us 
rest assured that the little spinners are 
capable of the purest enjoyment; and that 
the morning air is an element in which they 
revel with ecstacy. During the lovely 
mornings of autumn, we note these matters 
with rapturous feelings of delight. As we 
have before said, the insect world just now 
is in all its glory.* 
* The first grand display of gossamer during 
the present season, met our eye on the morning 
of the 24th of August. At 5 a.m, looking from 
our casement, we noticed a heavy impending 
mantle of fog. Indeed, the trees in the garden 
were not visible. This was the signal for us to 
“up and away.” We well knew what awaited 
us below. We found, as we anticipated, that the 
air was full of web; that every tree and shrub 
was impearled with dew, and loaded with the 
curiously-constructed domiciles of the geometric 
spider. If we say there were at the very least 
two hundred of these habitations, we speak quite 
within compass. Those who know how we revel 
in observations of nature, in these her finest and 
most subtle provisions for the happiness of her 
children, will not require to be told what a treat 
we enjoyed—a treat, than which nothing could be 
more delightful. The ropes, ladders, scaffolding, 
manceuvres of the builder to secure the unsus- 
pecting prey, the adyta et penetralia of the family 
mansion, and other domestic arrangements of 
these little creatures, fairly fascinated us. We 
have enjoyed the same sight frequently of late ; 
and shall continue to do so whilst opportunities 
offer.—Ep. K. J. 


At the request of a subscriber who feels 
much interest in this subject, we insert a 
letter on the Gossamer, from the pen of Gil- 
bert White, of Selborne. Mr. White’s 
observations are indeed worth recording in 
our columns. The letter was originally 
addressed to the Honorable Daines Bar- 
rington :— 
Dear Sr1r,—On September the 21st, 1741, 
being then on a visit, and intent on field diver- 
sions, I rose before daybreak; when I came into 
the enclosures, I found the stubbles and clover 
grounds matted all over with a thick coat of cob- 
web, in the meshes of which a copious and heavy 
dew hung so plentifully, that the whole face ofthe 
country seemed, as it were, covered with two or 
three setting-nets, drawn one over another. When 
the dogs attempted to hunt, their eyes were so 
blinded and hoodwinked, that they could not 
proceed, but were obliged to he down and scrape 
the encumbrances from their faces with their fore- 
feet ; so that, finding my sport interrupted, I re- 
turned home, musing in my mind on the oddness 
of the occurrence. 
As the morning advanced, the sun became 
bright and warm, and the day turned out one of 
those most lovely 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 demand our attention—a shower of cobwebs 
falling from very elevated regions, and continu- 
ing, without any interruption, 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 atmosphere. 
On every side, as the observer turned his eyes, 
he might 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, it 
would be difficult to say; but we know that it 
reached Bradley, Selborne, and Alresford, three 
places which lie in a sort of 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 ob- 
served it the moment he got abroad; but con- 
cluded 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 
fielas, he found the webs, in appearance, still as 
much above him as before; still descending into 
sight in constant succession, and twinkling in the 
sun, so as to draw the attention of the most 
incurious. 
Neither before nor after, was any such fall ob- 
served; but on this day the flakes hung in the 
trees and hedges so thick, that a diligent person 
sent out might have gathered baskets full. 
