The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-15
4 PUZZLE TO SCIENTISTS
Origin Of the Phenomenon Known
as Ignis Fatuus.
Curious Facts About the VIII a. the
Wisp or Jack o. Lantern - Opin-
ions of Various Investigators
Vary rs TO Their Make Up-Gcn-
orally Found i'm Foggy valleys.

Nothing has proved a greater puzzle for
scientists than the phenomenon commonly
called Ignis Fatuus, VIII o. the wisp, or
Jack o. Lantern. Nevertheless, 1t hiss
been sung of in prose and verse" for many
centuries and every person living in coun-
try districts is acquainted with the little
body of light which dances at night like a
firefiv over the most desolate and barren
wastes
The opinion of science upon the matter,
although it has never amounted to DEM
| onstration. is tbs. these meteors are In
fact nothing more than real exhalation
from the earth. as vaporous gas, or some
other weaker substance, combined with
the matter of light and heat, or even with
both mixed, which has been elected either
from animal. vegetable. or mineral sub
stances. They are at all times of a rare
and subtle matter and are mostly gener-
ated in low. marshy plains. though at
times, but rarely, they may be seen on the
tops OF lofty mountainous tracts, where
DOGGY springs are situated.
To the weak-minded and the supersti-
tious they are source of real terror and
it is probable that they have frequently led
a timid and benighted traveller into the
dangerous boys and quagmires where they
are generated. Oliver Goldsmith in his
poem of the Hermit. alludes to this fact in
the following couplet:
Forbear, my son. the hermit cries,
To tempt the dang rous gloom.
For yonder faithlsss phantom flies,
To lure thee to thy doom.
The learned designate these luminous ex-
ha1a mfr
the country people call them Will O. the
Wisp and Jack O. Lanterns, and when seen
at sea. or near the coast, they are called
Mariners Lights or ST. Helmo's Fires.
To account for the true cause Of these
singular appearances has occupied much OF
the time and labor OF the most skillful nat
uralists and philosophers. but completely
successful explanation has never been
given The principal authorities who have
written upon the subject have been Eng
lishmen, and among these my be promi-
nently mentioned the Rev. Mr. Dereham
and Sir Thomas Dereham, F. WilIoughby
and Mr. Ray, with others, think that Ignes
Fatui are only the shining of a great num-
Der of male glow worms. Some Italian au-
thorties concur in this opinion. This is
disproved, however, by the account of one
traveller. who asserts that he approached
near enough to a flame of this description
10 ignite a piece of paper. which he found
upon extinguishing the fire to be covered
with thick oily fluid 1t was only with the
greatest difficulty, he says, that he APP
proahed near enough to the Ignis FatuiS
for this purpose. as it regularly retreated
as he advanced which he attributed TO the
motion OF air produced by the movements
of his body.
DR.. Dereham records that in valley be-
tween Rocky Hills, which he suspected
might contain minerals, he saw an ignus
fatuus on 4 calm, dark night He got up
to within two or three yards of Ii. ard
viewed it with all possible care. He found
ii frisking about dead thistle growing in
the field. till small motion of air made
it skip from place TO place. 1T appeared
he says. like a complete body OF light
without any division. that II could not
be occasioned by insects, but a fire vapoF."
In some localities these phenomena give
as much light as torch, bit generally
they are no larger than the flame OF 4
candle. All of them have the same prop
erty both in color and light a flame
strong enough to reflect a lustre on the
objects around. They are continue Iy in
motion. and are constantly changing in
shape. spreading sometimes very ide and
then again contracting themselves; some
times breaking, to all appearance, into two
parts, then meeting again and appearing
as one; then floating like waves and drop
ping sparks as ii out of a fire. They are
observed more frequently in the depth CT
winter, when the ground is covered with
snow, than in the hottest summer, and
throw stronger light in wet weather than
when it is dry. Accounted for in various
ways. the ignus fatui still remain a puzz,e
to scientists.