232 History of Luminescence 



next century the appearance of Hans Molisch's book, Leuchtenden 

 Pflanzen (1904) , completely filled the need for a treatise on light 

 production by plants. 



Because of the wide distribution, spectacular display, and popular 

 appeal of fireflies and glowworms, entomologists have paid particular 

 attention to luminescence. The first modern English entomology 

 was that of William Kirby (1759-1850) and William Spence (1783- 

 1860) , a four-volume work which appeared between 1815 and 1826. 

 In one section, " On Luminous Insects," twenty-one pages are de- 

 voted to luminous beetles, molecrickets, lanternflies (Fulgora) and 

 the centipede, Scolopendra— a quite adequate treatment. 



In Germany, the first volume of the great Handbuch der Ento- 

 mologie of Herman Conrad Carl Burmeister (1807-1892) came out 

 in Berlin in 1832, and many additional volumes were added. It 

 was translated into English by W. E. Shuckard in 1836. Nine pages 

 of the translation were devoted to " The Luminousness of Insects," 

 with special reference to lampyrids and elaterids. 



In France also, the two-volume Introduction a I'Entomologie 

 (1834, 1838) of Jean Theodore Lacordaire (1801-1870) , part of the 

 Suites a Buffon, devoted ten pages to " Matiere Phosphorique," a 

 fairly good account of luminous insects. 



No special attention was devoted to luminosity of insects in the 

 American treatise of Alpheus Spring Packard (1839-1905) , Guide to 

 the Study of Insects (New York, 1869) , or in his later textbooks. 

 There is merely a brief description of luminous lampyrids and 

 elaterids. Later entomologies of every nationality suffer from the 

 same defect. The only comprehensive treatment of insect light 

 during the nineteenth century is Les Insects Phosphorescents by 

 Henri Gadeau de Kerville, which appeared at Rouen in 1881, with 

 " Notes Complementaires et Bibliographie General " added in 1887, 

 making a book of 188 pages. 



Throughout the century, dictionaries and encyclopedias in vari- 

 ous languages gave excellent accounts of the light of living organisms 

 but nothing would be gained by analyzing the articles ^^ which 

 merely reflected the views expressed by authors already considered. 

 Since the Encyclopedia Britannica was started in 1768, every edition 



'* Among the works dealing specifically with biological subjects, comprehensive 

 accounts of luminescence are to be found in the Dictionnaire de sciences medical 

 (Paris, 1830) , the article on "Phosphorescence" by DeLens; in the Popular cyclopedia 

 of riatural history (London, 1843) , Chap. IX, " On the evolution of light, heat and 

 electricity " by W. B. Carpenter; and in R. B. Todd's The cyclopedia of anatomy and 

 physiology (London, 1836-1859), the article on "Animal luminousness" (1847) by 

 Dr. Coldstream. General articles of the same period by medical writers were published 

 by R. J. Graves (1835, 1863) and W. P. Hort (1848, 1849) . A mediocre review was 

 written by G. von Hayek (1869) . 



