Observations on Ignes FatuL 353 



-b 



Ganges and the Crocodile of St. Domingo. The body of 

 the vertebrae is not strikingly contracted in the middle ; and 

 the anterior and posterior surfaces are concave. Some of the 

 spinous processes would, at first sight, resemble the analogous 

 portions of the Crocodiles ; but the cervical and dorsal verte- 

 bra? possess no inferior spinous process. This fossil Saurian 

 exhibits, in this respect, a sufficient dissimilarity from the fore- 

 going. I have named it, from the moderate length of its 

 beak, Metriorhynchus. It were to be wished that the cha- 

 racteristic portions of the skeletons of this, as well as of the 

 previous, animal could be recovered. 



Art. III. Observations on the Phenomenon termed Ignis Fatuus. 

 By Richard Chambers, Esq., F.L.S. F.Z.S. Read before the 

 Linnaean Society in 1830. Communicated by the Author. 



It has been the opinion of many naturalists, that the 

 luminous appearance known by the names of Ignis Fatuus, 

 Will-with-the-wisp, and Jack-o'-lantern, is not a meteor, as 

 generally supposed, but a luminous insect; and, in confirm- 

 ation of this hypothesis, I have collected, not merely the 

 opinions, but the experience, of many persons who have had 

 repeated opportunities of observing this singular pheno- 

 menon. 



In the year 1814, I had a conversation on this subject with 

 my esteemed friend the late Mr. James Dickson, the celebrated 

 botanist, whose name will never be mentioned without ex- 

 citing those sentiments of respect and veneration due to the 

 great talents and persevering industry of that indefatigable 

 observer of nature. 



The individual just mentioned informed me that he 

 felt confident the Ignis Fatuus was not a meteor, but a 

 luminous insect, for he had seen it settle on a plant and fly 

 off again. The same, he stated, had been witnessed by his 

 friend Mr. Curtis, author of the Flora Londinensis. My 

 curiosity being greatly excited by these remarks, I went im- 

 mediately to my father, the late Mr. Anthony Chambers, who, 

 having lived for many years in the neighbourhood of Lincoln, 

 where the Ignes Fatui are frequently seen, was likely to afford 

 me information on the subject. He told me that, when a lad, 

 returning in the dusk of the evening through Bultham Wood, 

 he observed behind him a Jack-o'-lantern, which followed 

 him through the wood; and when this luminous appearance 

 came to the gate, at the end of the path, it rose to clear the 

 upper bar, and flew into the adjoining meadow. At another 

 time, he observed, in the same neighbourhood, two of these 



Vol. I. — No. 7. n. s. dd 



