40 SOME REMARKS ON THE PHILOSOPHY AND 



The phenomenon called St. Elmo's light, will be readily recog- 

 nized in this elegant description of Ariel's. It is supposed to be an 

 electrical phenomenon, which generally appears before tempestuous 

 weather. It is mentioned by Pliny in his Hist. Nat., as also by 

 Seneca and many subsequent writers. Douce supposes that Shak- 

 speare consulted the works of Stephen Batman, who, speaking of 

 Castor and Pollux, says, " they were figured like two lamps, or 

 cresset lights, one on the toppe of a maste, the other on the stemme 

 or foreshippe." Douce adds, that " if the light first appears on the 

 stem, or foreship, and ascends, it is good luck ; but if either lights 

 begin at the top mast, and descend toward the sea, it is a sign of 

 tempest. By taking the latter position, Ariel had raised the storm 

 according to the commands of Prospero." 



The following extract from a modern author will be more inte- 

 resting to the reader : — " St. Elmo's light is a luminous meteor 

 that frequently settles upon the mast-head of vessels, and is, pro- 

 bably of electric origin, though it is never known to produce any of 

 those disastrous effects which so often attend lightning. Sometimes 

 it is confined to the mast-head, while at other times it gradually 

 descends the mast to the deck itself. It was formerly supposed, by 

 mariners, to be the visible representation of the spirit St. Elmo, 

 who is the tutelar deity of those who traverse the mighty deep. 

 When it is confined to the top-mast, it is a proof, in their opinion, 

 that although bad weather may be present, yet it will not continue, 

 and cannot injure the vessel : but when it descends the mast, it 

 prognosticates a gale of wind, or a disaster, &c, &c." 



The unfortunate poet, Falconer, alludes to this phenomenon : 



" High on the mast, with pale and livid rays, 

 Amid the gloom portentous meteors blaze." 



How beautifully Ariel describes the terror and furious broil of 

 shipwreck : it is all noise and wild contention, — " not a soul was 

 firm"— 



" Ferdinand, 

 With hair up-starting, (then like reeds, not hair), 

 Was the first man that leaped." 



Shakspeare has frequently alluded to this effect of fear; as in 

 Richard the Third :— 



" My hair doth stand on end to hear her curses." 



Also in Henry VI., &c. This is a physical fact, and produced by 

 the erectile tissue of the scalp, of course involuntary. 



