inch broad, and five or six long, which fell with a degree of velocity, that shewed 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, 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 observed it the moment he got abroad; but 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, three hundred feet above his fields, 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 observed; 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.

The remark that I shall make on these cobweb-like appearances, called gossamer, is, that strange and superstitious as the notions about them were formerly, nobody in these days doubts but that 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 take such a wonderful aërial excursion, and why their webs should at once become so gross and material as to be considerably more weighty than air, and to descend with precipitation, is a matter beyond my skill. 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, [see his Letters

;

to Mr Ray,] then, when they were become heavier than the air, they must fall.

Every day in fine weather, in autumn chiefly, do I see those spiders shooting out their webs and mounting aloft: they will go off from your finger, if you will 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 the page, and shooting out a web, took its departure from 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 that 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.*

* Gossamer has been long noticed both by poets and naturalists. It is now known to be produced by several different kinds of spiders, particularly the flying ones. Mr Murray, who has given much attention to the economy of these insects, says, they have the power of projecting thei threads to a considerable distance, and by this means transporting themselves from the ground to any elevation in the atmosphere, or from the apex of one object to another. He is of opinion that the threads of their web are electric, or so influenced by that subtle element, that buoyancy is imparted, and the baseless shrouds of this aërial voyager are, together with their fabricator, raised into the higher regions of the air.

Most spiders, when crawling over uneven surfaces, leave behind them a thread, serving as a cable, or line of suspension, lest they should fall, or be blown from their eminence; so that nearly the whole surface of the ground is covered with the net work of these singular animals. Besides the ground spiders, other wanderers contribute to these accumulations, which, however delicate, are at the same time durable. That this tissue is always on the increase, may be noticed by following a plough for a short space; for no sooner has it finished one ridge, than the fresh mould turned up is equally interlaced with innumerable threads, which glisten in the sun's rays, and can only be accounted for by the circumstance mentioned by Mr Murray, that during fine weather the air is filled with these excursive webs of the aranea aeronautica. The spider is often seen at the end of its thread, with extended limbs, balancing itself like a bird, and invariably floating before the wind. The same gentleman, however, says, he has seen threads projected in a close room, where there was no current of air to carry them in a direct line, which is an interesting fact. Mr Murray thinks that electricity, either positive or negative, is an active agent in the movement of the spiders' webs; which opinion has been combated by Mr Blackwall, who asserts, that they have not the power of propelling their webs without assistance from the wind, and that the cobwebs seen floating in the air are raised from the surface of the ground by the action of air, highly rarified by a cloudless sun. — ED.

LETTER LXVI.

TO THE HON. DAINES BARRINGTON.

SELBORNE, August 15, 1775.

DEAR SIR,- There is a wonderful spirit of sociality in the brute creation, independent of sexual attachment: the congregating of gregarious birds in the winter is a remarkable instance.

Many horses, though quiet with company, will not stay one minute in a field by themselves; the strongest fences cannot restrain them. My neighbour's horse will not only not stay by himself abroad, but he will not bear to be left alone in a strange stable, without discovering the utmost impatience, and endea vouring to break the rack and manger with his fore feet. He has been known to leap out at a stable window, through which dung was thrown, after company; and yet, in other respects, is remarkably quiet. Oxen and cows will not fatten by themselves; but will neglect the finest pasture that is not recommended by society. It would be needless to instance in sheep, which constantly flock together. *

* There were two Hanoverian horses, which had assisted in drawing the same gun during the whole Peninsular War, in the German brigade of artillery. One of them met his death in an engagement; after which the survivor was picqueted as usual, and his food was brought to him. He refused to eat, and kept constantly turning his head round to look for his companion, and sometimes calling him by a neigh. Every care was taken, and all means that could be thought of were adopted, to make him eat, but without effect. Other horses surrounded him on all sides, but he paid no attention to them; his whole demeanour indicated the deepest sorrow, and he died from hunger, not having tasted a bit from the time his companion fell.

Lord Kaimes relates a circumstance of a canary which fell dead in singing to his mate, while in the act of incubation. The female quitted her nest, and finding him dead, rejected all food, and died by his side.

Mr Charles Hall, of Englishbatch, had a beagle bitch which suckled a kitten, to whom she shewed the most devoted attachment.

"M. Antoine," says Professor Rennie, "relates the following anecdote of a lapwing which a clergyman kept in his garden: · :-It lived chiefly on insects, but, as the winter drew on, these failed, and necessity compelled the poor bird to approach the house, from which it had previously remained at a wary distance; and a servant, hearing its feeble cry, as if it were asking charity, opened for it the door of the back kitchen. It did not venture far at first, but it became daily more familiar and imboldened as the cold increased, till at length it actually entered the kitchen, though already occupied by a dog and a cat. By degrees it at

But this propensity seems not to be confined to animals of the same species; for we know a doe, still alive, that was brought up from a little fawn with a dairy of cows; with them it goes afield, and with them it returns to the yard. The dogs of the house take no notice of this deer, being used to her; but, if strange dogs come by, a chase ensues; while the master smiles to see his favourite securely leading her pursuers over hedge, or gate, or stile, till she returns to the cows, who, with fierce lowings, and menacing horns, drive the assailants quite out of the pasture.

Even great disparity of kind and size does not always prevent social advances and mutual fellowship. For a very intelligent and observant person has assured me, that, in the former part of his life, keeping but one horse, he happened also on a time to have but one solitary hen. These two incongruous animals spent much of their time together, in a lonely orchard, where they saw no creature but each other. By degrees, an apparent regard began to take place between these two sequestered individuals. The fowl would approach the quadruped with notes of complacency, rubbing herself gently against his legs; while the horse would look down with satisfaction, and move with the greatest caution and circumspection, lest he should trample on his diminutive companion. Thus, by mutual good offices, each seemed to console the vacant hours of the other; so that Milton, when he puts the

length came to so good an understanding with these animals, that it entered regularly at nightfall, and established itself at the chimney corner, where it remained snugly beside them for the night; but, as soon as the warmth of spring returned, it preferred roosting in the garden, though it resumed its place at the chimney corner the ensuing winter. Instead of being afraid of its two old acquaintances, the dog and the cat, it now treated them as inferiors, and arrogated to itself the place which it had previously obtained by humble solicitation. This interesting pet was at last choked by a bone which it had swallowed."

The following singular presentiment in a goose is related by Mr C. A. Brew, of Ennis:-"An old goose, that had been for a fortnight hatching in a farmer's kitchen, was perceived on a sudden to be taken violently ill. She soon after left the nest, and repaired to an outhouse, where there was a young goose of the past year, which she brought with her into the kitchen. The young one immediately scrambled into the old one's nest, sat, hatched, and afterwards brought up the brood. The old goose, as soon as the young one had taken her place, sat down by the side of the nest, and shortly after died. As the young goose had never been in the habit of entering the kitchen before, it would be difficult to account for this fact, except by supposing that the old one had some way of communicating her anxieties, which the other was perfectly able to understand."- ED.

following sentiment in the mouth of Adam, seems to be somewhat mistaken :

Much less can bird with beast, or fish with fowl,

So well converse, nor with the ox the ape.

LETTER LXVII.

TO THE HON. DAINES BARRINGTON.

SELBORNE, October 2, 1775.

DEAR SIR,- We have two gangs, or hordes of gipsies, which infest the south and west of England, and come round in their circuit two or three times in the year. One of these tribes calls itself by the noble name of Stanley, of which I have nothing particular to say; but the other is distinguished by an appellative somewhat remarkable. As far as their harsh gibberish can be understood, they seem to say that the name of their clan is Curleople: now the termination of this word is apparently Grecian; and, as Mezeray and the gravest historians all agree that these vagrants did certainly migrate from Egypt and the East, two or three centuries ago,* and so,

*The gipsies first attracted notice in the beginning of the fifteenth century, and, within a few years afterwards, they had spread themselves all over the Continent. The earliest mention which is made of them was in the years 1414 and 1417, when they were observed in Germany. In 1418, they were found in Switzerland; in 1422, in Italy; and, in 1427, they are mentioned as having been seen in the neighbourhood of Paris, and about the same time in Spain. In England they were not known till some time after. One remarkable part of their history is, their continuing the same unsettled mode of life, and rigidly keeping apart from all other people. It is impossible to find a greater similarity in the traits of character, and the manners exhibited by different tribes of the same family, than that which is observable amongst the gipsies of the different countries of Europe, under whatever appellation they are known. The habits of the cygani of Hungary, the gitano of Spain, the zigenners of Transylvania, the zingari of Italy, the bohemien of France, the gipsy of England, and the tinkler of Scotland, are identical; whether we regard their physical distinction, or their mode of subsistence.

Their features and complexion mark them of eastern origin. Grellman thinks them Hindoos of the lowest class; and a comparison of the language of that people with a list of about four hundred words possessed by him goes far to prove a national connection. There is, besides, some striking coincidences in the construction of the languages. He attributes their appearance to the cruel war of devastation carried on by Timur-Beg in 1408-9, and supposes them to be fugitives from their native land, and that they passed through the desert of Persia, and along the Gulf of Persia, through Arabia Petrea, over the Isthmus of Suez, into