122 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Gardener's Chronicle stated at the time, that "a 

 small slice of the dried root being wrapped in a wet 

 cloth, and allowed to remain about an hour, shines 

 in the dark like a piece of phosphorus, or perhaps 

 somewhat paler, more like dead fish, or rotten wood." 



Accompanying this account in an Indian journal, 

 is the statement that this plant has long been fami- 

 liar to the Brahmins under the name of Jyotismati, 

 and " is occasionally referred to a species of Cardio- 

 spermum, perhaps on account of- the white crescent 

 on the black seed of that plant." The discovery of 

 the Coromandel plant was made, it is said, by a 

 tuhseeldar, compelled by rain to take shelter at 

 night under a mass of rock, where he was astonished 

 to see a blaze of phosphoric light over all the grass 

 in the vicinity." 



Sanscrit authorities refer the Jyotismati to the 

 Himalayas, and Major Madden found, upon inquiry 

 at Almora, that there was a luminous plant well 

 known there by that name and Jwalla-mat, implying 

 the possession of light or fire. This plant proved to 

 be the Anthistiria anatliera, of which perhaps one 

 root in a hundred is said to be luminous at night 

 during the rainy season. Other grasses, species of 

 Andropogon are reported to possess the same pro- 

 perty, and both Hindoos and Moslems are persuaded 

 of the existence of a plant called Sunee, extolled for 

 its power of revealing the wonders of fairy-laud ; 

 and eagerly sought by fakeers and serpents. 



In 1845 the natives of Simla were filled with a 

 rumour that the mountains near Syree were illu- 

 minated nightly by some magical herb. 



It has been supposed that some of these reports 

 may be traced to a species of Dictamnus, as there is 

 one which is very closely allied to the European 

 form (the Dictamnus Himaleyensis of Royle) which 

 abounds near Gungotree aud Jumnotree. If the 

 Indian species really possesses the power of exhibit- 

 ing itself in the manner of its European relative, it 

 is not at all surprising that the natives should spread 

 its fame as that of a bush ever burning, but never 

 consumed. 



Apropos of the European Dittany {Dictamnus 

 fraxinella), the late Professor Henslow explained 

 the inflammable atmosphere generated about it, on 

 a calm still evening, as the evaporation of a volatile 

 oil, and adds that " if a candle be brought near it, 

 this plant is enveloped by a transient flame, without 

 sustaining injury." 



Eire is said to be latent in the " Summee," which 

 is supposed to be Prosopis spicigcra, the Jhund of 

 Northern India. It may be that only such latent 

 fire is alluded to as may be obtained by friction. 



The English translation of the Ulfaz Udwiyeh 

 gives Siraj-ul-kootrub as "the fairy's lamp — a plant 

 which shines at night like the glow-worm." 



Another plant which has obtained the reputation 

 of being luminous, is the Tuberose [Polianthes tube- 

 rosa). It has been observed, so it is said, of a sul- 



try evening after thunder, to dart small sparks in 

 great abundance from such of its flowers as were 

 fading. The rare occasion when fading flowers, a 

 thunderstorm, and an observer, meet together for 

 such an exhibition, must be some apology for the 

 doubt which may be entertained as to the speedy 

 verification of the facts. 



It should be remembered that Josephus, in his 

 "Wars of the Jews" (book vii., chap, vi.), writing 

 of Macherus, says : "There is a certain place called 

 Baaras, which produces a root of the same name 

 with itself ; its colour is like to that of flame, and 

 towards evening it sends out a certain ray like 

 lightning ; it is not easily taken by such as would 

 do it, but recedes from their hands." The only 

 virtue this root possesses is its supposed power in 

 the expulsion of demons. 



As to the incident recorded in connection with the 

 Eraxinella, Dr. Halm has offered explanations in the 

 Journal of Botany for 1863. " When the daughter 

 of Linnseus one evening approached the flowers of 

 Dictamnus albus with a light, a little flame was 

 kindled without in any way injuring them. The 

 experiment was afterwards frequently repeated, but 

 it never succeeded ; and whilst some scientific men 

 regarded the whole as a faulty observation or simply 

 a delusion, others endeavoured to explain it by 

 various hypotheses. One of them especially, which 

 tried to account for the phenomenon by assuming 

 that the plant developed hydrogen, found much 

 favour. At present, when this hypothesis has be- 

 come untenable, the inflammability of the plant is 

 mentioned more as a curiosum, and accounted for 

 by the presence of etheric oil in the flowers. Being 

 in the habit of visiting a garden in which strong 

 healthy plants of Dictamnus albus were culti- 

 vated, I often repeated the experiment, but always 

 without success, and I already began to doubt the 

 correctness of the observation made by the daughter 

 of Linnseus, when during the dry aud hot summer 

 of 1S57 I repeated the experiment once more, 

 fancying that the warm weather might possibly 

 have exercised a more than ordinary effect upon 

 the plant. I held a lighted match close to an open 

 flower, but again without result ; in bringing, how- 

 ever, the match close to some other blossoms, it 

 approached a nearly faded one, and suddenly was 

 seen a reddish, crackling, strongly shooting flame 9 

 which left a powerful aromatic smell, and did not 

 injure the peduncle. Since then I have repeated 

 the experiment during several seasons, and even 

 during wet, cold summers, it has always succeeded ; 

 thus clearly proving that it is not influenced by 

 the state of the weather. In doing so I observed 

 the following results, which fully explaiu the 

 phenomenon. On the pedicels and peduncles are 

 a number of minute reddish-brown glands, secreting 

 etheric oil. These glands are but little developed 

 when the flowers begin to opeu, aud they are fully 



