FIRE AS AN AGENT IN HUMAN CULTURE 197 



the fandango (national dance) which they have twice a week, namely, 

 on Saturday and Sunday nights, all through the year, fasten them on 

 their hair and headdress, and sometimes they make whole garlands 

 on their dresses of these poor shining captives, when, as they are 

 dressed ver}^ gayly and full of jewelry, one would would mistake 

 them for fairies." 



Another traveler records : 



" The Pyrophores are insects about 1 inch long, from Mexico, where 

 they are found in the forests. They are very brilhant and it is said that 

 the Indians of Mexico use them for light at night, as a few are enough 

 to light a whole room. When they are walking at night they put 

 one on each foot, so that they can be sure of their way and to avoid 

 snakes. The Mexican ladies buy them of the Indians and enclose 

 them in a transparent bag, wliich they wear in their hair or at the 

 neck. The effect is very beautiful, especially when several are worn; 

 and as the Indians sell them for a few cents a dozen, they are within 

 the reach of every senorita. They are fed on sugar cane, and if well 

 taken care of will hve a long time. One placed on a page will enable 

 it to be read with ease on the darkest night."" 



The celebrated naturaUst Kaempfer in 1690 said of the fireflies of 

 Siam: "Sitting upon the trees, like a firey cloud, the whole swarm 

 would spread themselves over its branches, sometimes hiding their 

 light all at once, and a moment after shining forth again with the 

 utmost regularity and exactness, as is they were in a perpetual systole 

 and diastole."^* 



Lafcacio Hearn tells a story of a Chinese student who inclosed fire- 

 flies in a paper lantern and was thus enabled to obtain light to study 

 after dark.^^ 



In Japan fireflies are an adjunct to all grades of social festivity, 

 from the private garden parties of nobles to an evening at a cheap 

 tea garden. Sometimes they are kept caged, sometimes released in 

 swarms in the presence of guests. To supply this demand there are 

 a number of firms in Japan employing men to catch the fireflies. 



At sunset the firefly hunter starts forth with a long bamboo pole 

 and a bag of mosquito netting. On reaching a suitable growth of 

 willows near water he makes ready his net and strikes the branches 

 twinkling with the insects with his pole. This jars them to the 

 ground, where they are easily gathered up. 



But tliis must be done very rapidly, before thej' recover themselves 

 enough to fly. So the skiUed catcher, sparing no time to put them 

 at once into the bag, uses both hands to pick them up and tosses 

 them hghtly into his apron, where he holds them unharmed till he 

 can hold no more, and only then does he transfer them to the bag. 



» Pop. Sci. News, November, 1885, p. 154. 



"Aug. St. John. Lives of Celebrated Travellers, vol. l,p. 289. 



*^ Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan, vol. 2, New York, 1894, p. 459. 



