motes of tbe mtgbt 



ground. How completely all sense of loneli- 

 ness disappeared. Here was excellent company. 

 Will-o'-the-wisp, though rather abject at present, 

 was really a good fellow, as it proved. Tired of 

 playing the tyrant, I withdrew and, resuming my 

 stand under the tulip-tree, awaited developments. 

 At this distance I could exert no influence, and 

 again the light appeared. Not a tangible, measur- 

 able light, but merely a fragment of the darkness 

 made visible. Darkness quickened and so over- 

 joyed with its life that it danced. Then the 

 gathering storm broke over me, and Will-o'-the- 

 wisp disappeared. 



I can trace no forms of light intermediate be- 

 tween this and that which is emitted by the masses 

 of dead wood that are more frequently found 

 charged with phosphorescence. The effect is very 

 different. The latter shows at once what it is, and 

 while interesting and likely to command attention, 

 is as prosy and commonplace as the ignis fatuus 

 is poetical. It frequently happens, when there is a 

 high summer freshet in the river, that phosphores- 

 cent wood comes floating down stream, and, if the 

 night be dark, it appears to set the water on fire. 

 It certainly comes much nearer to it than do any 

 of the inhabitants that dwell along shore. When 

 floating, phosphorescent wood gives out a brighter 

 glow than when, as decaying wood, we come 

 across it in a swamp ; but in this latter position it 

 may present an appearance that is positively star- 

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