t merely travelled in the direction of the wind. But
if "A Young Inquirer" would deserve his name, let him begin with
these spiders and observe for himself; he will find the inquiry
highly interesting.

He has no doubt frequently seen a small black spider creeping on
his hat or clothes (if he lives in the country this must have
occurred to him many times); this is the aeronautic spider. Let
him take this upon his hand, and if he be in the house let him
carry it to the open door or window, and allow it to creep up to
the tip of his finger, which he must then hold in a horizontal
position. When the spider finds it can proceed no further by
creeping, it generally drops a few inches, where it remains
suspended for a short time, apparently quite still, but if very
closely observed another thread (Gossamer) may be seen proceeding
from its vent, and when this has reached the length which the
spider's instinct tells it is sufficient for the purpose, it cuts
off the connection till then existing between it and the thread by
which it has hitherto been suspended from the finger, and floats
away into space. Very often it rises almost vertically, sometimes
its course is nearly horizontal, and sometimes it is oblique.

I cannot say, as Mr. Murray does, that I have seen the spider go
_against_ the wind, neither can I confirm Mr. Blackwall's
assertions that he always goes right before the wind, for I have
seen him go apparently across the current, so far as I could judge
of the direction of the wind at the time.

If "A Young Inquirer" makes the experiment I have suggested, let
him not be discouraged if the first he tries does not go off at
all, as I have sometimes found this to be the case, which I
accounted for by supposing that possibly the supply of materials
might be exhausted at the time.

I do not remember that I ever saw one of these aeronautic spiders
preying upon any insect, yet it must be for some such purpose that
they ascend to great altitudes, sometimes in countless numbers,
and the way they come down again is quite as curious as the manner
in which they ascend.

Many years since, as I was walking over the hills in the
neighbourhood of Blackburn, on a bright, still morning in
September, thousands of small locks of what looked like cotton
wool were slowly descending to the ground from various altitudes--
some as high as I could see--and tens of thousands of similar
locks were lying on the ground on both sides of the