500 



Miscellaneous. 



Nov. 30th, 

 11p.m. 



< 



Animals, &c. 



Sagitta . 



Thaumantias octona. 



T. inconspicua. 



Mysis, and other crus- 

 taceans ; very abun- 

 dant indeed. 



Some few crustaceans 

 which twinkled in 

 the shade of the boat 

 and vessels. 



though ever so small, will prove acceptable. Impressed with that 

 belief and under such feelings, I have resolved to give you the last of 

 the observations I was enabled tcnmake, on the luminous objects which 

 presented themselves to my notice before I left Fowey for this distant 

 spot : I have only to regret that they are so few, still I trust they will 

 not be altogether uninteresting. I shall first continue my journal-like 

 form. 



Date 1849. Sea. Animals, &c. Weather, &c. 



Nov. 8th Luminous, f Sagitta . "| Very unsettled indeed ; 



& 14th* Very ditto. Thaumantias octona. at times cold, then hot ; 



now wet, then dry; in 

 fact, very unstable. 

 Herrings the whole time 

 plentiful in the har- 

 bour. 

 Luminous. Some few crustaceans Full Moon. — Bright, 



clear, with occasional 

 black clouds and show- 

 ers. A most splendid 

 lunar rainbow, colours 

 bright. I never saw 

 one so brilliant, al- 

 though I have seen 

 many, both from fog 

 and rain, when I was a 

 night-wanderer. 



The objects figured in the accompanying sketches I observed at 

 different times when the sea was luminous, and the whole of them 

 added their twinkle to the illuminations. I am not aware that any 

 have been noticed before as occurring in Cornwall. 



Plate XVII. figs. 1-3. — A Sagitta, very glass-like and perfectly 

 transparent, and consequently most difficult to see ; it moves by jerks ; 

 the head has two fin-like appendages, one on each side ; the eyes 

 small, black and square, scolloped on the outer edges. I could di- 

 stinctly see the working of the jaws. 



Fig. 4. — One of the same kind. I obtained it in a small quantity 

 of sea-water, which Mr. Forbes, artist, of Invernettie, near Peterhead, 

 N.B., took up for the sake of the exuviae of a Balanus. It was a 

 trifle larger than the Cornish ones, and had two rounded pieces in 

 front of the tail-fin, one on each side. As well, I was able to see the 

 double circulation going on in the tail — (see the direction of the ar- 

 rows in the sketch) — the circulating medium was granular, slightly 

 coloured brown, and passed upwards in a narrow stream, on the outer 

 sides of the tail, until reaching the body, then turned down again on 

 each side of a line in the centre of the tail, until again joining the 

 mass from whence it started. The granules left the lower part at 

 first by one or two at a time, but soon got into a dense stream. I 

 understand this animal has been fully described in the ' Magazine of 

 Natural History.' 



Figs. 5 & 6. — Has occurred to me twice, and is probably the early 

 state of an Annelide ; it was very active, nearly transparent, divided 



