Far Eastern and Classical Antiquity 27 



and it is surprising that Strabo did not make unquestionable refer- 

 ences to luminescence.^" 



Rome 



It is hard to understand why Roman literature of Classic times 

 contains but few references to fireflies, ^^ for later travelers have 

 emphasized the striking display of these insects in Italy. There is 

 no mention of bioluminescence of any kind in the writings of the 

 epic poet Virgil (70-19 b. c.) , despite the marine adventures de- 

 scribed in the Aeneid, where every opportunity for observing phos- 

 phorescence of the sea was presented. Virgil seemed to be impressed 

 by the sparks obtained on striking flint, for this phenomenon, which 

 can hardly be called a luminescence, is mentioned twice in the 

 Aeneid^- and once in the Georgics.^^ However, the ignis lambens 

 and the aurora borealis, Avere observed and described in considerable 

 detail by several authors and will be discussed in a later section. 



PLINY 



Omission of luminescence from Roman literature has been in part 

 balanced by the writings of Caius Plinius Secundus, Pliny the Elder 

 (a. d. 23-79) . Although fundamentally a reader and compiler, 

 Pliny's military career took him to all parts of the ancient world 

 and his travels afforded the opportunity for observation and anec- 

 dote. He has been maligned by many writers but his descriptions 

 of luminescence were often quite specific and complete. 



In the Historia Naturalis, written in the first century a. d., there 

 is mention of the glowworm; the luminous mollusc, Pholas dactylus; 

 a luminous medusa ( Pulmo marinus) ; the lantern fish (Lucerna 

 piscis) , a creature hard to identify; a luminous fungus and a plant, 

 which on drying, becomes luminous. There are also references to 

 luminous wood and possibly to luminous eyes of dead luminous fish 

 (Aridi piscium oculi) . Pliny also mentioned the glow in eyes of 

 the cat, deer, wolf, seal, and hyena, a reflection of light from the 

 eye, not a true luminescence. His story of the birds of the Hercynian 

 Forest (Black Forest) whose feathers shine at night like fires must 



*° The only reference to luminescence in D'Arcy Thompson's A glossary of Greek 

 fishes, London, 1947, has to do with the boring mollusc or piddock, a food of the Greeks 

 and Romans, mentioned several times by Pliny. 



*^ There is no mention of a firefly depicted on coins or cameos in Tier- und Pflanzen- 

 bilder auf Milnzen und Genunen des klassischen Altertums, by F. Imhoof-Blumer and 

 O. Keller, Leipzig, 1889. 



«2 Book I, line 174, and Book VI, line 7. 



"Book I, line 135. 



