GOSSAMER is the name of a fine filmy substance, like cobwebs, which is seen to float in the air, in clear days in autumn, and is more observable in stubble-fields, and upon furze and other low bushes. This is probably formed by the flying spider, which, in traversing the air for food, shoots out these threads from its anus, which are borne down by the dew, &c.
GOSSAMER
article · 362 chars · lineage ↗ · page image at NLS ↗