48 THE AQUARIAN NATURALIST. 



" Within the shadow of the ship 

 I watch'd their rich attire ; 

 Blue, glossy green, and velvet black, 

 They coil'd and swam, and every track 

 Was a flash of golden fire." 



This appearance is not unfrequently accompanied 

 by flashes of a paler light and momentary duration, 

 which often illuminate the water to the extent of 

 several feet ; these are more or less vivid according to 

 the distance of the observer and the depth at which 

 they make their appearance, resembling exceedingly 

 the lightning so often seen in tropical regions, which 

 presents itself in diffused flashes, now issuing from 

 one mass of clouds, now from another, in constant 

 succession over the whole face of the heavens. 



The explanation of this phenomenon was to our 

 forefathers simple enough, as any one may convince 

 himself by referring to some of the earlier volumes of 

 the ( Philosophical Transactions/ where, after elabo- 

 rate theories relative to " phlegm " and " phlogiston," 

 and other elements unknown in modern chemistry, 

 the sages of those times ascribe all this luminous 

 splendour to the " saltness of the sea :" and even in 

 our own days, should the inquisitive passenger on 

 board a vessel seek for information relative to the 

 cause of the wide-spread phosphorescence, he will, in 

 nine cases out of ten, receive a reply equally satis- 

 factory, if not couched in precisely the same terms. 

 A little careful examination will, however, soon con- 

 vince the student of nature that such is by no means 

 a true solution of the problem. A tumbler- glass filled 

 from the glowing wave and set aside for accurate 



