The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-05-24

first six months of their lives. They
shone
NOT DEPENDENT ON THE VITAL
PRINCIPLE.
Prof. Langley decided that the light
| did not depend ON the vital principle of
| the insect. He found that the eggs be-
came luminous on being shaken in a
glass receptacle. Then he dried the eggs
| and kept them in that condition for a
| long time. On being moistened they
shone. The dried eggs were powdered
in mortar, but they gave light on be-
ing wetted. The beetles themselves
| twelve hours after being killed by cleo
| triclty, were still luminous. So the
professor infers that nothing more than
a chemical combustion is concerned in
| the manufacture of this cheapest light"
he thinks there is hope that we may be
able to reproduce it some day.
| 10 make light equal in briliancy TO
that OF this tropical insect we must
produce temperature of 1000 degrees.
| Ihesirefiy's lamp creates no heat that
| can be detected by the most delicate in
struments. Its energy is entirely expend-
ed in illumination. Nature, while offer
| ing object lessons in the art on very
| her in this field. There is a device
| known as "Geissler's tube" by which
| much greater lighL than that of the
| FREELY is almost without any heat, cleo
\ trio sparks being flashed through rairl-
I fed gases; but it is only plaything OF
| the laboratory.
| There are good many kinds of fireAies
in the orld. Those which give an in
termittent light are popularity dlstln-
| guished as" lightning bugs" The glow
worm of literature is the female OF
European freely. She never acquires
wings. Her luminous substance IS a
| soft yellowish grease, extending In
| thin layer along the inner sides of the
| abdomen. A few glowworms exist in
| the United States, but they are rare.
| The common frefies of this country
| have wings, females as well as males.
The larvae are stout-bodied and grub
| like, found under stones and logs. They
/ yield some light
MOSQUITOES THEIR PREY.
| Mosquitoes are the favorite prey of the
Cuban irefies. 1t is pity that our
own species have not the same taste.
The electric centipedes" already referred
to are black crawlers with smany legs,
which have been likened to serpents
skeletons in miniature. They move in
snake-like fashion. forward or backward,
| leaving bright trail of light. However,
| they are most accustomed to appear in
| the daytime, when the illumination they
| afford is not visible. A little after sun.
set the lightning pugsn begin to creep
up spears of grass and to show their lights
They fly irregularly upward, flashing
l afi ,,fa NJ 10 hasr. Df fo1.frr
fifty feet.
The light produced by marine animals
| is of a similar character the same mys-
| ferrous phoshporescence. In certain
| fishes of the ocean depths the illuminat-
| ing organs are very complex. Some oil
| them have spoJs on their sides which are
| regular bull's-eye lanterns. each having
| a lens and reflector of Its own. These
are so connected with the.nervous system
| of the animal that they can be flashed
or turned off at will. Others of these
finny creatures carry luminous bulbs at
the ends Of whisker-like flaments. Such
| bulbs are usually near the mouth, so as
to suggest the notion that they are en-
| ployed as bait to attract prey.
| The spots on the sides of the fish seem
| to be modified slime glands. In the
process of their development the slime
| secreted by the glands first becomes
| phosphorescent, SO that, streaming down
the sides of the animal, tenders the lat.
| ter luminous Among the queerest OF
light-givlng creatures are certain marine
| worms which have luminous scales. when
in danger one of these worms will DROP
two or three of its scales, which continue
to shine, deceiving the enemy as to the
| owners whereabouts. Meanwhile the
worm glides away unobserved. Washing.
| ton Star.