8 PHOSPHORESCENCE. 
nomenon was ascertained. The names of the au- 
thors of this discovery, and the dates of their in- 
vestigations, are given in this work, in thei pro- 
per places. The same observation will apply to 
those singular cases of phosphorescence which 
have been observed in the vegetable kingdom, 
upon flesh, decayed wood, etc. 
It will be easily understood what is meant by 
the term Phosphorescence, when we remind our 
readers that phosphorus, which shines so curiously 
in the dark, and which enters into the composition 
of our common lucifer matches, is the most re- 
markable of all phosphorescent bodies. The word 
“phosphorus,” which signifies a substance that 
bears or emits a light, has frequently been apphed 
to various other substances besides the non-me- 
tallic element termed phosphorus in chemistry, on 
account of the property these substances possess 
likewise of shining in the dark. 
