Kce of the Sea. [Book VI. 



the perfon who eats it ; and it is remarked, that con- 

 trary to the nature of other filh, which give light when 

 they tend to putrefcence, this is more luminous the 

 trefner it: is, and when dried its light will revive on 

 being moiftened either with fait water or frefhj brandy, 

 however, immediately extinguifhes in*. 



The luminous appearance of the fea in the night 

 time cannot have efcaped the obfervation of any per- 

 fon in the Icaft converfant with that element. The 

 light occafioned by the dafhing of oars, or by the mo- 

 tion of the waves by night, is extremely beautiful. Fa- 

 ther Bourzes, in his voyage to the Indies in 1704, re- 

 marked particularly the luminous appearance of the 

 fea. The light was fomedmes ib great, that he could 

 eafily read the title of a book by it, though nine or 

 ten feet from the furfacc of the water. Sometimes he 

 could eafily diftinguim, in the wake of the (hip, the 

 particles which were not luminous from thofe that 

 , were. The luminous particles alfo appeared of dif- 

 ferent forms ; fome appeared like points of light, others 

 like ftars; fome of them refembled globes of a line or 

 two diameter, and fome appeared as krge even as a 

 man's head > they afTumed fquare and triangular as 

 well as globular forms, and not only the wake of the 

 fbip, but fifhes in fwimming, produced thefe luminous 

 appearances. All thefe phenomena he attributes, and 

 rightly, to the fat or putrefcent flate of the water, and 

 cbferved, that when the wake of the (hip was brighter!, 

 the water was moft clammy and glutinous. In fome 

 parts of the fea, he faw a fubflance, like yellow and red 

 duft, and the failors told him it was the fpawn of whales 

 which produced all thefe appearances f. Later ex- 

 periments have proved, that the luminous appearance of 



* Pritf. Op. 567. f Ibid. 572. 



the 



