^12 Scientific IiitelUgence. — Zoology. 



the south coast of the Baltic we only find the harmless, ex- 

 tremely delicate Medusa aurita. — (Professor Ehrenherg in his 

 paper ; " Uber die Jhalephen des Rothen Meeres und den Or- 

 ganismus der Mediisen der Ostsee^'' published in the Transac- 

 tions of' the Berlin Academy of Sciences for 1835. Berlin^ 

 1837.) 



16. Phosphorescence of the Ocean, — The naturalists oiLa Bo- 

 nite in her late voyage round the globe, have made many observa- 

 tions respecting marine phosphorescence, which are thus reported 

 to the French Academy of Sciences, — Many observations made 

 upon phosphorescent water by means of reagents, of filtration, 

 boiling, simple examination^ and with the help of the micro- 

 scope, have led us to the following conclusions. The phospho- 

 rescent property of sea-water is not inherent in the nature of 

 this liquid, but is essentially owing to the presence of organ- 

 ized beings. The animals which produce the phosphorescence 

 belong to different classes. In the first rank, we find the mi- 

 nute species of Crustacea which swarm in the sea, but especially 

 a very small species having two valves, which possess this re- 

 markable property in the highest degree. All these species 

 have been collected, and are carefully preserved in alcohol. 

 Many mollusca, principally small Cephalopodes pelagiens, Bi'^ 

 phores (Salpae), &c., and also many zoophytes, among which 

 we remark Diphyes, Medusae, &c., also possess the phospho- 

 rescent property. Finally, in certain localites, we also find on 

 the surface of the ocean very small yellowish bodies which are 

 nevertheless extremely phosphorescent. We have encountered 

 these small bodies in immense abundance when landing at the 

 Sandw;ich Isles, and in crossing from this archipelago to the 

 Marianne Islands. We encountered them in such vast quan- 

 tities at the Straits of Malacca and upon the coasts of Pulo- 

 Penang, that the whole surface for a great extent appeared 

 covered by a thick yellowish dust. These small bodies have 

 been examined with the microscope ; but although they have 

 been for a long time submitted to our notice, we have never 

 been able to detect the slightest movement connected with them. 

 At the same time, the experiments we have made on them through 

 the means of various reagents, lead u^ to the [conclusion that 

 they are organized and living bodies. They appeared some- 



