68 The Diamond 



concentrated like a light. Though being the blood of a dead man, it 

 does not resemble a human shape in form. How, then, could a man 

 whose vital force is gone, still appear with a human body?" 1 At the 

 present day, when the Chinese in a very creditable manner coined a 

 nomenclature to render our scientific terminology, they chose this 

 word lin (ignis fatuus) to express our term "phosphorescence." 2 This 

 shows that they have a feeling that this phenomenon underlies the 

 popular notions conveyed by their word. 3 



The Po wu chi by Chang Hua (232-300) 4 has the following interest- 

 ing text, which shows also that the Chinese had a certain experience of 

 electric phenomena : " On battle-fields the blood of fallen men and horses 

 accumulates and is transformed into will-o'-the-wisps. These adhere 

 to the soil and to plants like dewdrops, and generally are not visible. 

 Wanderers sometimes strike against them, and they cling to their bodies, 

 emitting light. On being wiped off, they are scattered around into 

 numberless particles, which yield a crepitating sound, as though beans 

 were being roasted. They thrive only in quiet places for any length of 

 time, and may soon be extinguished. The people affected by them be- 

 come perturbed, as though they were mentally unbalanced, and remain 

 for some days in an erratic state of mind. At present when people 

 comb their hair, or are engaged in dressing or undressing, sparks may 

 be noticed along the line of the comb or the folds of the dress, also 

 accompanied by a crepitating sound." 5 



We noticed above that the phosphorescing of certain organs of 

 marine animals was known to Greek alchemists. The counterpart of 

 this observation is found in Chinese accounts of the eyes of whales, 

 especially those of female whales, making "moonlight pearls" {ming 



1 A. Forke, Lun-h6ng, pt. 1, p. 193. 



2 It appears from the Ku kin chu of Ts'uei Pao of the fourth century (Ch. B, 

 p. 6b; ed. of Han Wei ts'ung shu) that the phosphorescence of the glow-worm or 

 firefly was styled also lin and likewise ye kuang ("wild fire," or "fire of the wilder- 

 ness"). 



3 Giles (No. 6717) assigns this significance also to the word Ian in the compound 

 yil Ian ("phosphorescence of fishes"). 



4 Compare Notes on Turquois, p. 22. The passage is in Ch. 9, p. 2, of the 

 Wu-ch'ang edition. 



6 Also in Japan it was believed that will-o'-the-wisps represent the souls of people 

 (hence called hito-dama, "man's soul"), which are floating away over the eaves and 

 roof as a transparent globe of impalpable essence (Aston, Shinto, p. 50; M. Revon, 

 Le Shintoisme, pp. Ill, 302). Interesting information on this subject relative to 

 Japan is given by Geerts (Les produits de jla nature japonaise et chinoise, 

 pp. 186-187). Compare also some notes of M. W. de Visser (The Dragon in China 

 and Japan, pp. 213-214); and the same author's detailed study Fire and Ignes Fatui 

 in China and Japan (Mitteilungen des Seminars fur oriental. Sprachen, Vol. XVII, 

 pt. I, 1914, pp. 97-193)- 



