Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-05-18
pnOSpIIORESCENCE.
THE LIGHT WHICH ILLUMiNES WITH
OUT CREATING HEAT.

The Glowing Inhabitants oe the ses-The
Fatal GIcam Of ASackerei-Ths FireflIcs
Of South America and tho Lightning
Bug'' Of tho Northern Section.
There is no subject which tho re-
searches Of scientists have more CON-
pletely failed to elucidate than that Of
the cause Of animal, mineral and vcge.
table phosphorescencc-the light which,
unlike all other lights. illumines with
out either consuming or giving out any
perceptible heat. The ocean is the great
storehouse Of phosphorescent light On
Its surface myriads Of noctilucB Qittle
creatures Just visible TO the naked eye)
are often seen lighting the waves for
miles. and presenting wonderful effects
when the water IL broken by the bow Of
ship or the oars Of boat. Persons who
have passed through n stretch Of water
crowded with noctilucw say that the
light they give dims that Of the stars,
and makes the sea look MS though IL were
vast hcaving mass Of metal at white
heat
The intensity Of tho light is explained
by the immense quantity OF the little
animals. which are computed TO number
thirty thousand or so To the cubic foot.
Batl,ers in waters where they abound
have often been amazed to find, on
emerging, that their bodies are rendered
luminous by the noctilucD that cling to
them.
A kind Of sea elug 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
tho famous one at Naples. When dis
turbcd or swimming the light makes it
look like flame in the water
rYRosoME.
Tho most splendid of the many lumi-
nous inhabitants Of the sea are the pyro-
some At night they look ns though
made of glowing white hot iron, diiIus
Ing SO strong 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 II gives
forth--orange, green. azure, blue, white,
and various shades of dark red having
been all noticed by various observers
a tiny kind Of shark that Is met with Oft
tho shores of the southern states Of
America is noted light givcr. Spcci-
mems captured and taken into dark
apartment present an extraordinary spec
tacs. The entire surface of the head
and body emits greenish CLEAN that is
constant and is not. as in the case of
most Of these luminous inhabitants Of
the sea. increased by friction and agita-
ton.
Tho smalncss Of the fins Of this fish
show that II Is not an active swimmer,
and the assumption Is that its light is
useful in attracting its prey, on the prin-
ciple of the torches used by many saw
ages in fishing. Several kinds of crabs
are luminous One named the sapphirina
is noted for the intensely vivid character
of the light that proceeds from it. SO
brilliant Is IL that it does not need dark
ness TO make its presence known, but
corruscates blue, purple, green. gold and
sapphire rays In full daylight. The
presence Of u school Of mackcrcl Is often
indicated by the phosphorescent CLEAN
which these fish produce. Fishermen
often dcscry them at great distance by
this light, and hasten to surround them
by their nets. 1t Is thought that mack
erel make n secretion which gives the
light, as after they are captured n gleam-
ing fluid Is noticed running off their
bodies, and sometimes covering the hands
Of the mea who toss them from the boat.
FIREFIIES
II has been urged that the poet was
guilty of an exaggeration in describing
the fireilies as giving sufficient light to
be of any service; hut the accounts Of
travellers in South America, who tell us
that the natives light their path whilo
journeying by n couple of these insects
tied to their feet, show that he was
speaking quite within the bounds of pos
sibility. At evening entertainments in
that part Of the world it is customary
| far ladies to decorate their hair and
| dresses with tirellics. confined 10y deli
cate silken threads,
The natives of Vera Cruz do quite n
large trads In firellics, 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 freilics
of Northern America differ from those
| just described in tho fact that they emit
their light in capricious flashes, instead
of with steady, uniform glow. This
| popularity has gained for them the name
of "lightning bugs" Their light is very
similar to that Of our glowworm. A
story is told OF some French peasants
who We're returning home one night and
saw a meteor fall through the sky in
front Of them, about half mile further
on they came To a glowing mass in a
ditch and rushed away terrified, declar.
ing that a star had fallen upon the earth
and was burning it up. On investigation
il was found that this burning star was
nothing more unconuy than mass OF
frogs eggs that had developed phosphor.
escence.
Several varieties Of the vegetable king
dom are luminous in greater or les:
degree. One of the fungi, which is not
at all uncommon on the walls of damp
dark mines, caverns, etc, occasionall,
emits sufficient light To admit of tn,
reading of ordinary print by it, TIL,
emission of light from the common ,po
tato when in II state of decomposition i
sometimes very striking, Several of tn,
Indian plants and grasses are also lumin
GUS, and it is said that in lSi5 the noun
tains near Syree were nightly illuminatet
by their means. The root stock OF
plant from the Ooraghum jungle, sup
posed to he an orchid, possesses the pc
culiar property of becoming luminou
when wetted, while, when dry, it
| nuit, Inst tnrlnes l'hn hniry rod i,nnnr