380 APPEARANCES OBSERVED IN THE 



between it and any other, or between it and either the surface 

 or bottom of the fluid. 



Evaporation, causing an intestine motion in the particles of 

 the fluid, cannot be the cause ; for the addition of ardent spi- 

 rit, whicli increases the evaporation, deadens the motion, and 

 the motion continues when the liquid is covered over with al- 

 mond oil, or inclosed in a glass tube. 



The spicula are a little heavier than water ; for, on standing, 

 they slowly settle at the bottom ; but the slow manner of their 

 subsiding, and consequent turning, from side to side, is not the 

 cause of the motion mentioned ; for when a stratum is spread 

 on a piece of glass with a hair-pencil, as thin as possible, the 

 motion continues till the whole water is evaporated ; and if a 

 drop of oil is let fall on such a stratum of fluid containing the 

 spicula, the motion continues under the oil without interrup- 

 tion for many hours. 



The transmission of caloric will in no way account for it. 

 The motion is totally different from that of particles of dust, 

 &c. caused by the currents formed during the cooling or heat- 

 ins of alcohol or other fluids. 



Phosphorescence has no connection with it ; the reflection 

 beino- apparent only when light falls on the surface of the 

 fluid ; and the stronger the light the more brilliant, as in other 

 cases, is the reflection. 



To suppose that these spicula are animated, would, for ma- 

 ny reasons, seem a wild and improbable idea. 



Fh'st, They resist a heat of 212°, which no animated being is 

 known to do. 



This alone might at first seem conclusive, yet, perhaps, it is 

 not entirely so. The experiments of naturalists prove, that 

 the ova of animalcula resist a boiling heat, as, in various ve- 

 getable decoctions, which, although poured hot into vessels^ 



