Phosphorescence of the Sea 513 



la Salure, Flux et Reflux de la Mer, etc. (Blois, 1647) . The forty- 

 five-page tract is addressed to his cousin, M. Decahaignes Lord of 

 Troteual, Verrieres, etc., and professor at the University of Caen. It 

 is a rambling, philosophical discussion which contains little of scien- 

 tific value. Descartes' was not even mentioned, but Papin took the 

 opportunity to discuss Aristotle's views on matter and light. Like 

 others, he was aroused to poetic description of a display which was 

 so bright the sailors thought the ship was on fire. This sea light 

 " entirely without heat, appears as a guide to those who voyage by 

 the stars and who pretend to have journied to the globe of the moon, 

 for to discourse on these marvels is to be transported to a new lumi- 

 nous sphere in which each atom rivals another in lighting for him 

 who views them." 



Papin spent the night considering the marvel. He was particu- 

 larly impressed with the appearance of the anchor and hawsers, 

 which " scintillate like the reflections of stars," and which he com- 

 pared to the " luminous material which adheres to the skin and 

 fur of animals and which detaches itself when they are stroked." He 

 also mentioned the glowing eyes of cats and referred to true lumi- 

 nescences—the " vers coquin " of Italy, the glowworm, the " cucuye " 

 of Bartas (see Chap. Ill) , scales of fish, the flesh of cattle and wood 

 of the oak. His conclusion was " that the light which appears from 

 mixed bodies, particularly in the sea, is a corporeal substance, 

 entirely different from elementary substances, endowed with a most 

 essential luminous quality from which it cannot be deprived except 

 by complete destruction; . . ." Papin spent considerable time ex- 

 plaining how the light got out of the water but his views on this 

 subject need not concern us further. He did notice the fundamental 

 similarity of sea light and light from living organisms without realiz- 

 ing the direct connection between the two. 



Thomas Bartholin (1647) used the light of sea water as evidence 

 for the existence of light in all things (see Chapter IV) , while others 

 compared the scintillation to sparks produced on striking flints or 

 when quartz pebbles are knocked together.^ 



Status of Sea Light in the Late Seventeenth Century 



Robert Boyle's remarks on the phosphorescence of the sea and his 

 conclusion that some cosmical law must produce the effect have 

 already been presented in Chapter IV. On October 22, 1666, the 



* Such a view of the cause of sea light was expressed by Richard Ligon (fi. mid- 

 seventeenth century) , who published, A true and exact history of the island of Bar- 

 bados (London, 1657) . 



