21 



January 11, 1831. 

 Sir Thomas Phillipps, Bart., in the Chair. 



An Address by Mr. J. V. Thompson " To the Members of the 

 Zoological Society, and the Zoologists of the United Kingdom in 

 general," was read, soliciting such support, by subscription, as may 

 enable him to continue, without further loss, his " Zoological Re- 

 searches and Illustrations." This Address is printed, together with 

 a list of the subjects of some of the succeeding Memoirs, on the 

 cover of the Fourth Number of the Researches, which was at the 

 same time laid on the table. 



An Extract was read from a Letter addressed by Daniel Sharpe, 

 Esq., to Mr. Bennett, in which the writer describes the luminous 

 appearance of the ocean as observed by him on several nights du- 

 ring his passage to Lisbon. A considerable sparkling was visible in 

 the water close under the vessel's side, particularly in the spray 

 just thrown off from the bow, and also occasionally when a wave 

 broke : it gradually vanished as the water became quieter. The 

 appearance was that of a number of small sparks not brighter than 

 the smallest stars. When a bucket full of the water was taken up, 

 nothing was visible until it was stirred or shaken, when it was in- 

 stantly filled with spangles, which disappeared as the water settled : 

 the most elegant effect was when the waves or spray broke over the 

 deck, which then became covered with stars for a few minutes. Mr. 

 Sharpe states that he collected a great quantity in a glass, and exa- 

 mined them carefully with a microscope the next morning, in the 

 expectation of observing minute Crustacea, &c, to which the ap- 

 pearance he describes has frequently been attributed. He could, 

 however, detect nothing but an abundance of small fibres and shreds 

 of, apparently, animal matter, and did not find even one entire animal. 

 Hence he is disposed to infer that, in some instances at least, the 

 phosphorescence of the sea arises from the quantity of particles of 

 dead fishes, &c, always floating on its surface ; although he con- 

 fesses himself unable to explain the reason why these shine only 

 when the water is disturbed. 



It was remarked that Commerson and others have attributed the 

 phenomenon described to the putrefaction of animal matters : and 

 M. Bory de St. Vincent has declared that marine animalcula take no 

 share in it. Sir Joseph Banks, Dr. Macartney, and others, on the 

 contrary, have referred it to the presence of marine animals, prin- 

 cipally Crustacea ; and the existence of such, as the cause of this 

 appearance, has been recently insisted on by Mr. J. V. Thompson. 



