:!^i;f^^' Contents 



PAGE 



Introduction 1 



Part I. Luminescence through the Centuries .... 9 



Chapter I. Far Eastern and Classical Antiquity ... 11 



Mythology 11 



The Near East 13 



China and Japan 16 



India 20 



Greece 22 



Aristotle 23 



Strabo 26 



Rome 27 



Pliny 27 



Aelian 32 



Luminous Gems 33 



The Torches of the Bacchae 35 



Electroluminescence in Ancient Times 35 



Sea Phosphorescence in Classical Literature .... 40 



Summary 43 



Chapter II. The Middle Ages 44 



Introduction 44 



Isidorus, Rabanus, Hildegard 45 



Arab Writers 47 



Albertus Magnus and the Encyclopedists .... 49 



Miscellaneous References to Luminescence .... 53 



Comment 54 



Chapter III. The Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries . . 56 



Introduction 56 



Early Explorers 56 



Oviedo, Martyr, and New World Discoveries ... 57 



Luminous Centipedes and Worms 58 



Phosphorescent Wood 59 



The West Indian Firefly or the Cucujo .... 60 



xi 



