A VOYAGE TO INDIA. 149 



ledged physical law, that like causes produce like 

 effects, would lead us to expect an uniform diffusion of 

 the phosphoresence over a considerable extent of water 

 under the same latitude and longitude ; but this is not 

 the case. A ship will often be enveloped for a few mo- 

 ments in so bright an illumination that a book may be 

 read upon the deck, and at the next instant she may be 

 involved in almost total darkness. Again, electricity 

 is eliminated with the greatest facility in a cold and 

 dry atmosphere ; but the phosphorescence of the ocean 

 is most considerable in tropical climates, nor is it dimin- 

 ished by storms or rain. The supposition of a fermen- 

 tation of the surface is equally unsatisfactory, for such 

 a process would lead to an equable diffusion of light over 

 the whole space in which it acted. But the luminous 

 matter is almost always seen in distinct masses or par- 

 ticles ; and the few exceptions to this rule which have 

 been observed, do not admit of an explanation according 

 to the known effects of fermentation. The light elimi- 

 nated by putrid fish furnishes a more plausible theory, 

 but the very wide extent of the illumination, is, of itself, 

 sufficient to prove its incorrectness. It has been already 

 shown to what an incalculable amount the living inha- 

 bitants of the ocean increase, but the reverse is true of 

 the dead. The air and the water swarm with innume- 

 rable depurators, who devour every thing that dies, 

 whether beneath the surface or upon it. The albatross, 

 the stormy petrel, the Cape pigeon, some of the gulls, 



