94 BULLETIN 41, I NITED .STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



1890. GiRARP, CiiAKLES — Coutiiuicd. 



ABSTRACT. 



Tlicre ail! iiatiiralisto -who still believe that pliospliorescenco is tlie "result of a peeiiliar 

 .secretion of a viscous or slimy liquid." Others think that the same plu'iionienon "does not 

 depend upon the will of the animal and manifests itself through anomalous cireunistauces." 



To show the inanity of such conceptions Dr. Girard relates a curious and quite decisive 

 observation made in Boston harbor in ISl", in company with Agassiz, Desor. and Pourtales. 



"The house we inhabited on the cliff of East Boston, faced the harbor, Birds Island, and 

 Governors Island on the left hand, and the city of Bo.ston on the right. 



' ' Towards the end of summer, during a calm night lighted by a full moon, Pourtales called 

 our attention to an unusual brightness of a silvery blue over the surface of the water. It 

 looked like a sheet of liquid silver. Agassiz and Desor thovight it to be a reflection of the 

 satellite. "Wo were, however, soon convinced that such was not the case, inasmuch as the 

 brightness continued, even with a greater intensity, when the moon happened to be moment- 

 arily hidden behind packs of heavy clouds driven by upper currents of the atmosphere. 



"To leave no room for any possible doubt, Pourtales and myself went on a little skiff 

 gathering in a pail a sample of water from the center of the phenomenon. Nothing particular 

 attracted our attention except that as we were jirogressing, the brightness which we still per- 

 ceived at a given distance, disappeared from our immediate surroundings, the surface of the 

 water showing its usual aspect, and the thought occurred whether we were not laboring 

 under an optical delusion. Sfevertheless we filled our pail to examine its contents at home. 

 By the light of our lamps, the water appeared perfectly limpid and cont.ained no living beings 

 visible to the naked eye. But in the obscurity and calmness one could see a myriad of sparks 

 darting to and fro — genuine aquatic fireworks in miniature. The least agitation or a simple 

 shock against the pail would cause these sparks to vanish, and to reappear after quietness 

 was restored. In a transparent glass jar, little aniiualculae could be distinguished like so 

 many whitish dots disseminated throughout the liquid. The microscope showed a -small 

 Crustacea of the genus calamis, bearing a strong resemblance to Varictes of Templeton. The 

 luminous emission, of a celestial blue, could bo seen proceeding from the nervous system of 

 the little animal whose transparency enabled us to see its entire organization. The point 

 initial was the cephalic ganglion above the esophagus, subject to isochronal contractions, and 

 whence the luminous flashing passed rapidly through all the nervous strings to the other 

 ganglia, which themselves were motionless." 



Dr. Girard considers the phenomenon of phosphorescence as manifesting itself under two 

 distinct aspects. First, tm.active state, and second, a.2)assivc stated The active state proceeds, 

 diu'ing life, from the nervous system of the animals in which the phenomenon occurs and 

 under the immediate control of their will, intermittent therefore in its aspect, whilst the 

 passive state resides latent among dift'used or disaggi-egated organic substances without 

 vital impulse, and showing some activity under agitation of various sorts and under the action 

 too. of luminous rays like those of the moon. 



195. 



1890. GiRAKi), Charles. La maladii' dii Barbeau {Barhun fluviatUis L.) Le XatHf 



ralistc, Paris, p. 254, 1890. 



AH.STHACT. 



A very strange and serious disease, characterized by an acciuuulation. between skin and 

 flesh, all alimg the lateral line, of an apiiarently fatty substance made of sarcosjyroids, 

 affected tho common barbel of the river Seine in its windings about Paris. That disease 

 assumes the character of an epidemic, already observed years ago among the same fish in the 

 rivers Meuse and Moselle. It terminates fatally and tho dead fishes may be seen floating 

 on the surface of tho water. Death is brought about by asphyxia in the following manner : 

 Tho bulky and fatty substance affecting but one side of the body, the fish loses both 

 equilibrium and specific gravity. Unable to maintain itself any longer swimming in full 

 water, it rises thus forcibly to the surface, where the access of the air to the gills impedes 

 respiration and brings about death. Tho flesh as well as the organs in the abdominal cavity 

 exhiliit at first no signs of alteration. By and by suppuration may setinand the swollen re- 

 gion then bursts open like an abscess. 



196. 



1891. GiRARO, Charles. Uiic tortne hiropbalc 



Le XaturaUsU; Paris, p. 1, 1891, (fig.). 



A very young specimen of Chr)ise)n ifs pieta i'roin flie Fnited St.ites, exhibits two well -formed 

 heads emerging from under a carapax seemingly iHninal in its exterior aspect. Four limbs. 



I 



