80 . On the Phofphorefeence of the Luciole. 
in a condenfed ftate the fluid which conftitutes light. . It is 
poffible that by a peculiar organifation they may have the 
power of extraéting the light which enters into the com~ 
pofition of their food, and of tranfmitting it to the refay 
voir deftined for that purpofe, which they have in their 
abdomen. It is not even impoffible that they may have 
the power to extract from the atmofpheric air the luminous 
fluid; as other animals have the power of extraCting from 
the fame air, by a chemical procefs, the fluid of heat.” 
Carradori difcovered that the phofphorefeence of the 
luciole is a property independent of the life of thefe animals, 
and that it is chiefly owing to the foft ftate of the phofphoric 
fubftance. Its light is fufpended by drying, and it is again 
revived by foftening it in water; but only after a certain 
time of deficcation. Reaumur, Beccaria, and Spallanzani 
obferved the fame thing in regard to the pholades and the 
medufa. 
By plunging the luciole alternately into lukewarm and 
cold water, they fhine with vivacity in the former, but 
their light becomes extinét in the latter ; which, according 
to the author, depends on the alternate agreeable and dif- 
agreeable fenfation which they experience. In warm water 
their licht difappears gradually. Dr. Carradori tried on 
the luciole and their phofphorus the action of different 
faline and fpiritous liquors, in which they exhibited the 
fame appearances as other phofphoric animals. Thefe laft 
experiments prove that the phofphoric matter of the luciole 
is only foluble in water. | 
! XVII, On — 
