NATURAL HISTORY. 



G31 



the wind. The leaves of walnut 

 trees appear to produce the best 

 effect. 



Observations upon Luminous Ani- 

 mals. By James Macartney, 

 Esq. 



[From the Transactions of tlie Royal 

 Society for the Year 1810.] 



The property which certain 

 animals possess of emitting light 

 is so curious and interesting, that 

 it has attracted the attention of 

 naturalists in all ages. It was par- 

 ticularly noticed by Aristotle and 

 Pliny amongst the ancients, and 

 the publications of the different 

 learnedsocietiesin Europe contain 

 numerous memoirs upon the sub- 

 ject. Notwithstanding the degree 

 of regard bestowed upon the his- 

 tory of luminous animals, it is still 

 very imperfect ; the power of pro- 

 ducing light appears to have been 

 attributed to several creatures 

 which do not possess it ; some 

 species which enjoy it in an emi- 

 nent degree have been imperfectly 

 described, or entirely unobserved ; 

 the organs which afford the light 

 in certain animals have not been 

 examined by dissection; and, last- 

 ly, the explanations that have 

 been given of the phaenomenr. of 

 animal light are unsatisfactory, 

 and, in some instances, palpably 

 erroneous. 



As this subject forms an inter- 

 esting part of the history of or- 

 ganized beings, I have for some 

 yearsavailed myself of such oppor- 

 tunities as occurred for its investi- 

 gation. Having communicated the 

 result of some of my researches to 

 the right honourable sir Joseph 

 Banks, he immediately offered me 



his assistance with that liberality 

 which so eminently distinguishes 

 him as a real lover of science. I 

 am indebted to him for an inspec- 

 tion of the valuable journal he kept 

 during his voyage with captain 

 Cook ; for permission to copy the 

 original drawings in his possession 

 of those luminous animals disco- 

 vered in both the voyagesof Cook; 

 and for some notes upon the lu- 

 minous appearance of the sea, 

 that were presented to him by 

 Captain Horsburgh, whose accu- 

 racy of observation is already 

 known to this learned Society. 



In the following paper, I shall 

 first examine the grounds on 

 which the property of showing 

 light has been ascribed to certain 

 animals that either do not possess 

 it, or in which its existence is 

 questionable. I shall next give an 

 account of some luminous species, 

 of which some have been inaccu- 

 rately described, and others quite 

 unknown. I shall endeavour to 

 explain from my own observations 

 and the information communi- 

 cated to me by others, many of 

 the circumstances attending the 

 luminous appearance of the sea. 

 I shall then describe the organs 

 employed for the production of 

 light in certain species ; and lastly, 

 I shall review the opinions which 

 have been entertained respecting 

 the nature and origin of animal 

 light, and relate the experiments 

 I have made for the purpose of 

 elucidating this part of the sub- 

 ject. 



The property of emitting light 

 has been reported to belong to se- 

 veral fishes, more particularly the 

 mackarel, the moon-fish (tetrao- 

 don mola), the dorado, mullet, 

 sprat, &c. 



