28 History of Luminescence 



also be attributed to reflection of light, as well as the light from 

 precious stones, discussed in a later section. 



The earliest English translation of Pliny is by Phifemon Hol- 

 land (1552-1637) , Doctor in Physick, a two-volume work entitled 

 The Historic of the World. Commonly called the Natural! Historic 

 of C. Plinius Secundus. It was published at London in 1601. Hol- 

 land's literal interpretation and his quaint phraseology make the 

 parts dealing with luminescence well worth quoting. The statement 

 regarding luminous eyes occurs in Book XI, chap. 37,^* which is 

 entitled: " A discourse Anatomicall, of the nature of living crea- 

 tures, part by part, according to their particular members." The 

 section takes up horns, ears, eyes, and other organs. Pliny wrote: 



Moreover, we see that those creatures which ordinarily do see by 

 night ^^ (as cats doe) have such ardent and fierie eyes, that a man cannot 

 endure to looke full upon them. The eyes also of the Roe-bucke and 

 the Wolfe are so bright, that they shine agine, and caste a light from 

 them. The Sea-calves or Scales, and the Hygenes, alter eftsoons their 

 eies into a thousand colours. Over and besides, the eies of many fishes 

 doe glitter in the night, when they be drie: like as the putrified and 

 rotten wood ol some old trunke of an oke or other wood. . . . 



The fact that the eyes of fish at night are compared to luminous 

 wood ^^ suggests that Pliny may have referred to the light of lumin- 

 ous bacteria which often grow on the eyes of dead fishes, although 

 the lens of a dried eye might act as a reflector. 



In addition to luminous wood, Pliny was familiar with luminous 

 fungi, for he wrote (Book XVIII, Chap. 8) : 



As for Agaricke, it groweth in Fraunce principally upon trees that 

 beare mast, in manner of a white mushrom: of a sweet flavor, very 

 effectual in Physicke, and used in many Antidotes and sovereaigne con- 

 fections. It groweth upon the head and tops of trees: it shineth in the 

 night, and by the light that it giveth in the darke, men know where 

 and how to gather it. 



Hennings (1904) believed the fungus might be Pleurotus olearius, 

 common on olive and other trees in Mediterranean countries. 



"* The numbering of chapters is frequently different from that of later translators. 



^^ The idea that glowing eyes mean ability to see at night has been repeated by 

 many authors. Pliny wrote (Book XI, Chap. 54, Bostok and Riley translation) that: 

 " Tiberius Caesar, like no other human being ... on awakening in the night, could 

 for a few moments distinguish objects as well as in the clearest daylight, but that by 

 degrees he would find his sight enveloped in darkness." Cardan, the elder Scaliger, 

 and the French physicist, de Mairan, were reported to have the same power. 



*^ A passage in the Pharsalia of Lucan (Marcus Annaeus Lucanus, a. d. 39-65) may 

 refer to phosphorescent wood: " Fame, too, reported that full oft the hollow caverns 

 roared amid the earthquake and that yews that had fallen rose again. And that flames 

 shone from a grove that did not burn." H. T. Riley translation, 113, London, 1890. 



