The record-union., 1897-07-19

others TO light their pathway on the
sea bottom, and still others use it as
means of attraction between sexes.
In the vegeta BILE kingdom light is
produced by plants, in some cases with
quite as much abundance as by ami
mails Professor Haggern was the first
to observe brilliant illumination in
marigolds, nasturtiums and yellow
lilies. He concluded that there was no
organism present to account for the
light Upon analysis he found the
light proceeding from the petals. Mr..
Fries saw light emitted by group of
poppieS Lamarch observed that GER
tain plants emitted heat De Saussure
also observed the same phenomenon.
Later the thermomultiplico rendered it
possible to sensibly appreciate the heat
in a cluster of blossoms. 1t has since
been found that tropical plants gener-
ate a comparatively large force of heat.
The temperature increases periodically,
growing in the afternoon, and, accord
ing to one authority, appearing like a
''paroxyism of fever which passes
away with the day The greatest in
tensity always occurs with the shedding
Of pollen. Returning to Illumination
in the vegetable kingdom, however, the
phosphorescence of fungi is Well known
and there are four different specimens
Of mushrooms of the genus agaricus
which are highly luminous.
There seems to a consensus OF
opinion among scientific men that the
light of insects proceeds in most cases
from cells filled apparently with soft
yellow grease; that these are contained
in minute sacS lying just inside the
skin. Multitudes of minute air tubes
surround and ramify through the sacs
terminating in a large tube and
spiraculum or air opening in the skin.
Free circulation of air is necessary to
the production Of light, and in the case
of glowworms or lightning bugs it is
the opening and closing of the spira-
culum which causes the intermittent
operation of the light. In many cases
the sacs of grease are covered with
transparent horny caps divided by hex
agonal facets exactly similar in prin-
ciple TO an apparatus used by man for
increasing light diffusion. Heat af-
fects the light and oxygen stimulates
it,
escence and heat there seems to be a
general opinion that light, heat and
chemical combination are interchange
able processes, constantly occurring in
vegetable matter Inasmuch as one
causes and recauses the other, this is
sufficient reason for the presence of
phosphorescence or heat. 1t is in fact,
mutually convertible cause and effect.
;x,Jx-
exists during the Towering period, as
is shown by the exhalation Of carbOnic
acid gas. It seems that in the growth
Of plants heat is really a dynamic
agent used and directed by the germ
of the plant Light in Towering plants
may be set down as an electrical prod
uct, although in some of the more
minute forms it's steady glow resem-
bles that of combustion. Finally the
light and heat set free by combustion
are recognized as the expression of
chemical change and a giving back to
original elements the forces that were
stored up by vegetation matter in the
coal beds of the past or in the woody
fibers of later growth
This light of nature has been OBJ
served in a variety of forms observable
since the beginning of the world. The
ancients believed that Castor and Pol
lux, the two sons of Zeus. have divine
control of the phosphOrescence of the
air and water, and this is the frs
mention we know of st. Elmo's fire.
Mysterious lights have been seen in the
woods, underground in the air, and
even lowering around sick persons.
Meat. even, has shown much phOs-
phorescence. Once in New Orleans the
butchers of one quarter of the city
suffered great loss because of the ten
dency of their meats to phOsphOres-
cence, thus preventing its sale. What
then is the primal cause of it all, and
if the secret is solved shall we be able
TO turn it to account? That is a ques-
ton which is just now being looked
into by more than one scientific man.
Cleveland Leader.