The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1888-01-19
FAIRY LAMPS OF THE SEA.
Starffsh That Sparkle Like Brilliant Gems.
Phosphorescent JeI1yfish.

PhOsphorescent Jenyfish.
When tie contents of dredge ere
landed upon the deck at midday the Gu
rious shapes and colOrs of animals alone
attract attention; but if they are ex-
amined at night they develop a new
beauty. cleaning with a wOndrous light
that is so little understood. The star
fishes brought up at certain places are all
seemingly heated to a white heat, the
CLEANS running UP and down the arms,
making the animal marvel of beauty.
Especially among the stars known as
ophinrans is the light most brilliant and
interesting. Even the very young ones
sparkle like gems. a dredge has been
taken from great depth fairly overflow
ing with these dazzling creatures, telling
a wonderful story Of the condition of
things below the surface. These are the
lights Of the bottom, and in shoaler water
we shall find anemOneS and cOrals emit
ting a wonderful light.
Perhaps the most striking light given
is a group Of polyps, growing upon
stem three or four feet in length, resem-
bling a tall candlestick. The name Of
this creature is the umbellularia, and it
was first found in deep water off the
coast of Greenland, the trawl bringing
up such large number that it was evident
that the ship had passed over veritable
forest of them. Imagine a corn-feld a
mile or so below the surface, the stalks
four feet long and the ears emitting a
golden greenish light of wonderful soft
ness; think of this as spread over acres
of surface to an indefinite extent. the
lights waving here and there in gentle I'm
dulations; imagine fishes darling through
them with cleaning headlights, others
outlined in fire, while far above are great
globes of light, with soft aurWblas, and
some idea of this world beneath the sea
can be formed
The jellyfish, or medusae, are among
the most remarkable of light givers. and,
with few exceptions, they are luminous,
some being more so than others, and much
of the phOsphOrescence of the Pacific as
seen from the decks of vessels, is due to
these creatures-that are so beautifully
formed and so delicate in color, yet in
reality are So per cent. water; in all jelly
fish 5 per cent. viii represent the solid
part.
In some, as pelagia, the entire animal
is luminous, its shape being outlined in
full, as it were, while in others only GER
tain portions are light emitting. Not only
are these creatures phosphorescent, but
the COlors are different; some emit a
golden light; in others it is green or
azure, and some seem to combine several
tints. Again, certain ones are luminous
all the time; others show their light in a
fitful way or when disturbed; and during
the autumn Of the year. when these
radiant creatures are hurled against the
rocks and GROUND Up, their lights seem to
combine in turning the entire ocean into
a seething caldron.
Among the Crustaceans, or. as they are
commonly called, the crabs, we find some
interesting light givers. Several years
ago some explorers on our southwestern
coast found that as night came on the
snow sludge along shore gave out light,
and when it was fully dark the display
was extremely remarkable; at every step
flashes of light splashed about every
where, tinted with an intense blue hue,
and the scene presented could be dupli-
Gated if it were possible for man to walk
through molten metal. The little creature
that produced this light was extremely
small, but what it lacked in size it made
up in numbers, the cold, icy water being
fairly alive with them, each one flashing
ike a gem.
Probably nearly all of the deep sea forms
are light givers. either over their entire
surface or upon certain places. One
which l call to mind has luminous
bands upon its legs, while another, with
an unpronOunceable name, has luminous
eyes. The worms that hide in the mud
are brilliant light givers, some emitting
lights of several colors. The sea plumes
and fans Of the south are gorgeous in a
lilac light. In fact, in some places every
thing brought to the surface is a light
giver, so that we can well imagine that
while the deep sea has no sunlight, ma
ture has done her best to compensate for
the omission.
Even among the shells we find light
givers. The little cleodora, with its little
fairy ship or shell, emits a light now of
intense blue, again red or white, while
the phOlas, the little bivalve that enters
solid rock with all the ease of the miner,
has brilliant blush light that continues
even after the death of the animal, and
as long ago as the time of Pliny a writer
said that those who dined upon the
phOlas appeared to be eating fire, so vivid
was the phOsphOrescence. Some inter
esting experiments have been tried with
this light giver. Thus by placing one in
honey its luminosity was retained for
year. As may be surnised such expert
ments were made with the idea of rem
dering the phosphorescence of the pholas
permanent, and if the secret of animal
luminosity could be discovered and ap-
piled to the wants of the man it would
without doubt revolutionize existing
methods
We have seen that the deep sea and
shallow waters have their lights, yet if
all these were combined the most deli
cately adjusted thermometer would fail
to show the slightest elevation of tenn
perature, and this is the popularity of
phOsphorescent light 1t is heatless, glows
in vacuum, under water-in fact, in all
conditions where ordinary light fails. If