78 History of Luminescence 



finished about 1589 but later revised, which was not published until 

 well after his death. Some of the final information came from Aldro- 

 vandi (1602), although he is not mentioned. The book appeared 

 under four (Wotton, Gesner, Penny, Muffet) names in 1634 as 

 Insectorum sive Minimorum Animalium Theatrum, and was trans- 

 lated by John Rowland as The Theatre of Insects in 1658, appear- 

 ing at the end of E. Topsell's History of Four-footed Beasts and Ser- 

 pents, the latter an adaptation of Gesner. 



The Theatre has a definite medical slant throughout, with a special 

 section on fireflies as remedies. It is poorly written but of value 

 because Muffet collected and recorded all knowledge of the time 

 concerning: luminous insects, adding to the treatise of Aldrovandi. 

 In the six pages of Chapter XV, " Of the Glow-worm," the Cucuyo 

 (including the first drawing ^^ of the insect, reproduced as figure 5) 

 and also centipedes (called Scolopenders or Juli) are described from 

 the accounts of the early Spanish explorers (see Chapter II) . Com- 

 pared with the meager description of Oviedo, Muffet left no doubt 

 of luminescence in centipedes from the Old World. The accounts 

 came from Gaudentius Merula *^ (1500-1555) and from his friend, 

 William Brewer. The latter twice found luminous Scolopendrae in 

 England, once " in summer nights, of a shining fiery appearance, in 

 heath and mossie grounds. The whole body shines something more 

 darkly than a glow-worm," and again. 



It once hapned that I came sweating home to my house at night, that I 

 wiped my head in the dark with a napkin, the napkin seemed to me 

 all over of a flaming fire; whereupon I wondered a while at this new 

 miracle, all the lustre seemed to draw to one place, then folding the 

 Napkin together, I called for a candle, and opening the cloth, I found 

 such a Scolopendra, which I had rubbed against my head, and had caused 

 this strange light like fire.*^ 



Muffet paid the greatest attention to fireflies of various kinds. 

 Like Aldrovandi, he faithfully recorded the names by which these 

 insects were known in different countries,** the opinion of various 



London. He also wrote three books on medicine, and a poem, The silkworms and 

 their flies; lively described in verse by T. M. a countrie fartnar (1599) , is ascribed 

 to him. 



■■^ According to C. E. Raven, English naturalists from Neckam to Ray (Cambridge, 

 1947: 182) Muffet's figure of Pyrophorus came from a water color drawing of John 

 White, who sailed with Sir Richard Grenville for Virginia in 1585. Muffet (1658: 978) 

 mentioned no name but reported that the figure was by " a most skillful painter, who 

 had taken strict observation of it both in the lesser Spain and in Virginia." 



*- Lib. 3, Memor. c. 61. Merula wrote on Italy, for example De Gallorum Cisal- 

 pinorum antiqiiitate ac origine, Ludguni, 1538. 



*3 The theatre of insects, 979, 1658. 



** A long list of local French names will be found in Eugene Rolland, Faune popu- 

 laire de la France 3: 181-183, 1881. 



