Gossamer

Gossamer, a thin film, consisting of innumerable threads, which covers the ground or floats in the air on fine days towards the end of autumn. The separate threads are so slight that they are visible only when they catch the sunlight. Gossamer, when it is bathed in sunshine, has a beautiful sheeny effect, which is enhanced by the sparkling beads of dew that become caught in the tissue. The origin of gossamer long remained obscure. In the 17th century Dr. Hulse and Dr. Martin Lister announced that they had discovered it to be the work of spiders, but this theory did not obtain general recognition till a much later period. It is now known that it is produced by small spiders, which probably belong to several different species. No satisfactory explanation has hitherto been given as to the purpose which gossamer is meant to serve. As the spiders which produce the floating gossamer are wafted upwards with it as soon as it is formed, it has been thought by some that their object in producing it is to catch their prey in the air.