The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-02-05
FLow4aRs THAT GIVE LIGHT.
Due to PhosphOreseenee, and on JulS and August Evenings the Phe-
 mOmemm May Be Seen.

 nOmena May Re Seen.
 San Francisco Chronicle .. .. .. .. .. | When visiting San Francisco a few years ago the present Park Commis- sion of Philadelphia, MT. Maurieson, observed in the Golden Gate park ob- servatory a species of Australian pop py which emitted a constant and steady glow at night.
 As Mir. Maurieson wal aware that intermittent light-producing flowers existed the constant radiation from these flowers caused him to think he was the victim of some practical joker, who had mischeviously painted the flowers with luminous paint. Acting on this idea he secured one of the luminous plants and took 1t to a friend, Mir aDniels, an amateur micro scopist, who made a thorough and careful examination of the petals of the flower, and informed MT. Maurice son that there was no foreign sub stance of the kind he suspected in it.
 This phosphorescence of flowers is one of the most interesting studies known to to science; and it was the daughter of the Swedish naturalist, Linneaus, who first called attention to the fact that certain flowers are able to shine by their own light. Ear ly one June morning. 1762. while walk ing in her garden, she first discovered radiation of light from a number of nasturtiums. These observations she continued during June and July, and found that radiati0ns ,Ncurred in the morning or 1 nthe evening twilight. The same phenomena has been ob- l served in the corolla of the sunflower, the French and African marigold. the yellow lily, the dahlia, the tubercose and the four-O'clock. The most lumi- nous of these, however, are said to be the yellow or the orange-colored flow CTS.
 Sir Isaac Newton says: The most luminous of the prlsmatic cobrs are the yellow and the oragne; these affect
 the senses more strongly than all the
 rest together"
 Professor Haggcrn writes: '"rne luminous radlatlons of the marlgold have found to be thu most brilliant,
 next to which I place tho light given | by the nasturtium, and, third, that of the yellow lily. A careful microscopic examination has convinced me that the light does not depend upon the pres
 ence of any animal organism" Professor Haggern's first observa- ton of the light emanating from l flowers occurred one evening when wandering through his garden. It was
 
 ed from a marlgold in the center of
 the garden. Thinking it an optical illusion. he stationed the gardner in
 the immediate vicinity, and told him | to throw his hand the moment the 1 light appeared. The man obeyed and his signals oorresponded exactly with the professors observations.
 He records the fact that the illu-
 mutations of the marigolds of an A.. mM- brilliant, while those of the pale flow CTS could scarcely be seen. Professor Haggern thinks that the light was electrical. and says that emitted by small gesiller tube when a current of electricity Is passed through it." Scientists, however have disposed Of that theory by immersing these light giving flowers in jars of oxygen gas. when. we are assured. the light is much more brilliant. while in other gases, such as nitrogen or carbolic, no light Is visible.
 An emerald-green cavern moss called schistostega osmundacae gives out by It's root hairs a brilliant yellow light. Even decayed potatoes or other vege- tables become fertile fields for the ex- hibition of brilliant phosphorescent lights. An alarm of fire was once raised on the streets of Strasburg. France, by a peasant who saw a de- caying mass of potatoes collected in the cellar.
 Some mushrooms are phosphorescent. One of the most beautiful objects in the world is the red mushroom of the olive trees. The gills curve out from the foot stalks and expand under the cap into a bell-like or trumpet shape of orange hue, which changes at night to a pale cobalt blue light, glowing when they are grouped together, like fairy bells of bright blue fire. To the investigator of such phenom- ena 1t may be sal dthat the best time to witness flower fire is in July or August. just after sunset. when the air Is dry and clear.