Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-06-15
LUMINOUS ANIMALS.
HOW NOCTILUCL LIGHT THE OCEANS
 W4TES.

Tho Light of the Stars Dimmed by
 the Glow From These Little Inhnbft-
 ants of :the Sea- The Pyrosomna-
 Fireflies Used i'm South America as
 Lanterns.
 There Is no subject which the re- searches of scientists have more conl- pletely failed to elucidate, says the Lon don Standard than that of the cause of animal, mineral and vegetable phospho- rescence-the light which, unlike all other lights, illumines without either consum- ing or giving out any perceptible heat. The ocean is the great storehouse of phosphorescent light-on it's surface myriads of noctiluc4 little creatures just visible to the naked eye) are often seen lighting the waves for miles, and present. ing wonderful effects when the water is broken by the bow of ship or the oars of boat. Persons who have passed through stretch of water crowded with noctilucte say that the light they give aims that of the stars, and makes the sea look as though it were vast heavng mass of metal at white heat. Tho in- tensity of the light is explained by the immense quantity of the little animals, so to the cnbic foot. Fathers in waters where they abound have often been amazed to find, on emerging, that their bodies are rendered luminous by the noctilucp that cling to them.
 A kind of seaslug that is met with in the Mediterranean and the Pacific cmitS light from certain spots in the body It is capable of being kept in an aquarium, and there are usually some specimens in the famous one at Naples. When dis turbed or swimming the light makes it look like a tiame in the water
 The most splendid of tho many luni- nous inhabitants of the sea arc the pyro- soma. At night they look as though made of glowing white-hot iron; diffusing so strong a light that other fishes are rendered visible when they happen to swim within the sphere of their radiance. A distinguishing feature of the pyro- soma Is the variety of tints that it gives forth-Orange, green, azure, blue, white, and various shades of dark red having been all noticed by various observers. X tiny kind of shark that is met with off the shores of the southern states of America is a noted light-giver. Specimens cap turcd and taken into a dark apartment present an extraordinary spectacle. The entire surface of the head and body cmits a grcenish gleam that is constant, and is not, as ill the ease of most of these lu- minouS Inhabitants of the sea, increased by friction and agitation. The small ness of the fins of this fish show that it is not an active swimmer, and the as- sumption is that its light is useful in att 1 tractlng its prey, on the principle of the l torches used by many savages in fishing ! Several kinds of crabs are luminous | One named the Sapphirina is noted fOl | the intensely vivid character of the light | that proceeds from it. So brilliant is it | that it does not need darkness to make it's presence known, but coruscates blue, l T k | daylight. The presence of a school of mackerel is often indicated by the phos- | phorescent gleam which these fish pro duce. Fisherman often descry them at a | great distance by this light, and hasten to | surround them by their nets. It is thought that mackcrcl make a secretion which gives the light, as after they are captured gleaming fluid is noticed run | ming off their bodies, and sometimes covering the hands of the men who toss them from the boat.
 It has been urged that the poet was l guilty of an eXaSSeration in describing | the tire-tlioS as giving sufficient light to
 be of any service; but the accounts of | travellers in South America, who tell Us that the natives light their path while | journeying by d couple of theso insects
 tied to their feet show that he was speak | ing quite within the bounds of possibil- | ity. At evening entertainments in that l part of the world it is customary for la-
 dies to decorate their hair and dresses
 with hre-tlies, confined by delicate silken
 threads.
 l The natives of Vera Cruz do quite a 1 large trade in tire-tlics, which they catch | by waving blazing coal at the end of q
 stick. The insects fly toward the light
 and are captured in nets. The fire flies
 of Northern America differ from those
 just described in the fact that they emit
 their light in capricious flashes, instead
 of with steady, uniform glow This
 pcculiarity has gained for them the name
 of 'lghtning bugs" Their light is very
 similar to that of our glowworm.