The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1895-01-26
LIGHT FROM PLANTS.
ONCE BELIEVED TO HE Pure FANCY.
BUT NOW KNOWN AS REAL.

Trees and Bushes which Produce wan4
derfai Lumlnous Enectssosne Expsri-
eness OF Nataraiists In Dinsrsnt rArts
Of tina World.
One of the early n~atnralists, Muee.
Merriam, / think, describes nm extraor.
binary spectacle which she observed in
Asia. Her party was moving through
a forest at night when without warn.
ing o large light appeared. At first dim,
II increased in size, growing larger and
larger until finally a tree WINS outlined
in q soft pulsating light.
The natives were demoralized and re-
fused to approach il. saying IL was the
sacred tree of fire. But the naturalist
had little faith in trees OF fire and IN.
vestigated it. finding that the light was
due to certain insects, which, by the
way, has never been observed since.
That q tree or plant could give light
was deemed q figure of the imagination,
yet today it is known that light giving
plants are not uncommon and among the
most striking and remarkable of nat
ural phenomena. Once in returning frefn
q days hunt through a deep forest In
the heart OF the Adirondack region I
stumbled against a dead limb of d tree,
when to my amazement / was at once
surrounded by q silvery light that fiew
in all directions, like darts and arrows
of fire. each piece burning whore IN lay.
This wa an unusually brilliant display
of the best known OF luminous plants,
the fox fire, or witches glow OF
childhood days.
To the layman it is often mysterious,
MS investigation shows nothing but the
decayed wood, and sometimes q soft,
pulpy mass. The botanist will soon
point out the light giver in tho myce-
lium of some fungus that has permeated
the old branch and fairly taken posses
sien of IL, converting it into d glorious
spectacle when disturbed. The vivid
ness of the light may be estimated when
it is known that print cam often be read
by it. and the light Of some has been
known to penetrate through several
thicknesses of paper.
Singular to say, the smallest plant is
often the means OF producing the greatest
luminous effects. This is the diatom,
which the naturalists Of the Challenger
found floating in the ocean in vast mum.
bers, and rs the nucleus of the diatom
is often brilliantly phosphorescent some
Of the most remarkable displays Of light
observed by the naturalists were coca
stoned by these little plants, But what
shall we say to q sight observed by a
Norwegian bark I'm the bay Of Funchal?
The waters here are fairly alive with
these little luminous plants the year
round, and on the OCCASION referred to
q WATERFRONT formed among them, Dur
ing the day il would have attracted lit
tie attention. as the p~henonaeuon y a
common Une but tho crew OF She ship
were suddenly confronted it might BY o
literal pillar of Ere or light that extend
ed upward to . distance seemingly Of
4, 900 feet and moved along with q do.
cided bend
IL emitted q pale yellow light that
stood ont in strong relief against the
black night, q weird and formidable
spectacle, rushing on before the wind
An English naturalist, wishing to as
tonish some natives in d wild part of
Asia i'm which he was travelling and
impress them with his supernatural
powers. secured q certain vine known as
Euphorbia phosphorea. and rubbing it
upon d big rock caused the latter to
gleam with flame and present 80 re-
markable q spectacle that the natives
ram, believing, that he had set the rock
afire by simply touching il. The natr
ralist was aysar that the milky juiceof
this plant, that resembled the dandeli-
ON, was brilliantly phosphorescent.
I'm the Harz mountains there has been
for ages d cave known az the hauntAd
cavern. An Englishman, travelling I'M
the vicinity and hearing of it, deter
mined TO investigate the mystery. After
d long climb he reached the cave4sNo |
sooner did complete darkness set in than
the phantom Of tho cave appeared-4a
remarkable semblance to human form,
with arms outspread. outlined against
the gloom Making his way TO the fig
ure that had alarmed so many wayfar
ers. he found that it was a plant that
grew upon the wall. Ii was the we'll
known phosphorescent fungus. Rhizo~
mospha snbterranea, frequently found
in caves and familiar to miners. IT.
light il often so vivid that people have
read by il.
These curious lights are not found In
the tropics alone. Some years ago Mr.
MorreIl. editor of the Gardiner (Me.)
Journal. wrote me that he had observed
y brilliant steady light III his garden DC
times, totally unaccounted for by mo
chanical c~ontrivance, and which, upon
investigation. proved to be- the phos-
phorescent light emitted by the young
OF the plant Tianus stydticus.
Perhaps the most startling exhibition
was observed several years ago by an
English traveller in Boriieo. Belated, he
was overtakeii by night. and there be-
ing no moon he was fearful Of losing
his way, when, as tho darkness came
ON, singular lights appeared hers and
there In the bushes and by tho roadside.
Some were yellow; others burned, or
seemed 10, with d bright greenisls hue.
As