"The Gossamer Spiders appear in swarms only during the harvest; but single spiders are to be found through the whole summer."

We have a very curious account of the Gossamer, inserted by Mr. White, in the Natural History of Selborne. "On September the 21st, 1741, being intent on field diversions, I rose before day-break. When I came into the enclosures, I found the stubbles and clover-grounds matted all over with a thick coat of cobweb, in the meshes of which a copious and heavy dew hung so plentifully, that the whole face of the 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 hood-winked that they could not proceed, but were compelled to lie down and scrape the incumbrances from their faces with their fore-feet; so that, finding my sport interrupted, I returned home, musing in my mind on the oddness of the occurrence.

As the morning advanced, the sun became bright and warm, and the day proved 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 fell from very elevated regions, and continued without 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 nearly an inch broad, and five or six inches 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 within his sight, and twinkling like stars, as they turned their sides toward 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 these places a gentleman of my acquaintance observed it the moment he got abroad; but he 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, 300 feet above the level of his fields, he found the webs, in appearance, 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 observer.

"Neither before nor after this was any such fall observed; but on this day the flakes hung on the trees and hedges, so thick, that a diligent person sent out might have gathered baskets full.

"The remark that I shall make on these cobweb-like appearances, called Gossamer, is, that, strange and superstitious as the notions about then were formerly, nobody in these days doubts but they are the real production of small spiders, which swarm in the fields in fine weather in autumn, and have a power of shooting out webs from their tails, so as to render themselves buoyant, and lighter than air. But why these apterous insects should that day have taken such a wonderful aërial excursion, and why their webs should at once have become so gross and material as to be considerably more weighty than air, and to descend with precipitation, is a matter beyond my skill to decide. If I might be allowed to hazard a supposition, I should imagine, that those filmy threads, when first shot, might be entangled in the rising dew, and so drawn up, spiders and all, by a brisk evaporation, into the regions where clouds are formed; and if the spiders have a power of coiling and thickening their webs in the air, as Dr. Lister says they have,

then, when they become heavier than the air, they must fall.

"Every day in fine weather, during autumn chiefly, do I see these spiders shooting out their webs and mounting aloft: they will go off from your finger, if you take them into your hand. Last summer one alighted on my book, as I was reading in the parlour; and, running to the top of a page, and shooting out a web, it took its departure thence. But what I most wondered at was, that it went off with considerable velocity, in a place where no air was stirring; and I am sure I did not assist it with my breath. So that these little crawlers seem to have, while mounting, some locomotive power without the use of wings, and to move in the air faster than the air itself.

THE TARANTULA *.

The Tarantula Spider is a native of Italy, Cyprus, Barbary, and the East Indies. This animal lives in fields, and its dwelling is in the ground, about four inches deep, half an inch wide, and closed at the mouth with a net. These spiders do not live quite a year. They lay about 730 eggs, which are hatched in the spring. The parents never survive the winter.

Inflammation, difficulty of breathing, and sickness, are said to be the invariable consequences of the bite of this insect. Dr. Mead, and other medical men, have countenanced the absurd story of these effects being counteracted by the power of music. It is, however, known, that this singular mode of cure was nothing more than a trick practised on credulous travellers, who

DESCRIPTION. This spider is somewhat more than an inch in length. The breast and belly are of an ash-colour. The legs are likewise ash-coloured, with blackish rings on the under part. The fangs are red within.

SYNONYMS. Aranea Tarentula. Linnæus.-L'Araignée Tarentulę.

were desirous of witnessing it. Mr. Swinburne, when he was in Italy, minutely investigated every particular relative to this insect. The season was not sufficiently far advanced, and it was pretended that no persons had that year been yet bitten: he, however, prevailed upon a woman, who had formerly been bitten, to perform the dance before him. Several musicians were summoned, and she performed it, as every one present assured him, to admiration. At first she lolled stupidly on a chair, while the instruments played a dull strain. They touched at length the chord supposed to vibrate to her heart; and up she sprang with a hideous yell, staggered about the room like a drunken person, holding a handkerchief in both hands, raising her hands alternately, and moving in true time. As the music grew brisker, her motions quickened, and she skipped about with great vigour, and in a variety of steps, every now and then shrieking very loud. The scene was unpleasant, and, at his request, the dance was terminated before the woman was tired.

Mr. Swinburne informs us, that, wherever the dance is to be performed, a place is prepared for the dancers, hung round with ribbons and bunches of grapes. The patients are dressed in white, with red, green, or yellow ribbons: on their shoulders they have a white scarf; they let their hair fall loose about their ears, and throw the head quite back. He says, that they are exact copies of the ancient priestesses of Bacchus. The introduction of Christianity abolished all public exhibitions of heathenish rites; but the women, unwilling to give up their darling amusement, in performing the frantic character of Bacchantes, devised other pretences; and he supposes that accident led them to the discovery of the Tarantula, on the strength of whose poison the Puglian dames still enjoy their old dance, though time has effaced the memory of its ancient name and institution.

THE BIRD-CATCHING SPIDER*.

If the spiders that are found in Europe are contemplated with aversion and alarm, by those who are in the habit of constantly seeing them, surely this American species, whose gigantic size and great muscular power, render it a terror even to the feathered tribes, cannot be beholden without extraordinary sensations of horror.

The legs of this enormous creature extend over a space of nearly ten inches. From the head to the extremity of the abdomen, it often measures more than three inches. The legs are as thick as a goose's quill, and closely covered with hair. The body is brown, and the fangs are as strong and sharp as in some of the rapacious species of birds. It is not uncommon in many parts of America, but is principally found in the southern division of that continent, and particularly in Guiana.

Captain Stedman, while residing at Surinam, had one of these insects given to him. He put it into a case-bottle eight inches high; and, when this was filled with spirits, the animal reached the surface with some of its claws, while others rested on the bottom. On the whole, he says, these spiders are so hideous, that the very sight of them is sufficient to occasion a tremor of abhorrence, even in persons most accustomed to view them.

This spider resides in trees, and frequently seizes on small birds, which it destroys by sucking their blood, after having first wounded them by its fangs, which distil a poisonous liquid into the wound. The slit or orifice near the tip of the fangs, through which the poison is emitted, is so visible, as to be distinctly perceptible even without a glass.

The eight eyes of this terrible insect are placed in front of the thorax, somewhat in the form of an oblong

SYNONYMS Aranea avicularia. Linnæus.—L'Araignée aviculaire. Tigny.