328 PHOSPHORESCENCE. [SECT, xxvm. 



quently seen to dart along a shoal of herrings or pilchards ; 

 and the Medusa tribes are noted for their phosphorescent 

 brilliancy, many of which are extremely small, and so nume- 

 rous as to make the wake of a vessel look like a stream of 

 silver. Nevertheless, the luminous appearance which is 

 frequently observed in the sea during the summer months 

 cannot always be attributed to marine animalcule^ as the 

 following narrative will show : 



Captain Bonnycastle, coming up the Gulf of St. Lawrence 

 on the 7th of September, 1826, was roused by the mate of 

 the vessel in great alarm from an unusual appearance. It was 

 a starlight night, when suddenly the sky became overcast in 

 the direction of the high land of Cornwallis country, and an 

 instantaneous and intensely vivid light, resembling the aurora, 

 shot out of the hitherto gloomy and dark sea on the lee bow, 

 which was so brilliant that it lighted everything distinctly 

 even to the mast-head. The light spread over the whole sea 

 between the two shores, and the waves, which before had 

 been tranquil, now began to be agitated. Captain Bonny- 

 castle describes the scene as that of a blazing sheet of awful 

 and most brilliant light. A long and vivid line of light, 

 superior in brightness to the parts of the sea not immediately 

 near the vessel, showed the base of the high, frowning, and 

 dark land abreast ; the sky became lowering and more in- 

 tensely obscure. Long tortuous lines of light showed 

 immense numbers of very large fish darting about as if in 

 consternation. The spritsail-yard and mizen-booin were 

 lighted by the glare, as if gas lights had been burning 

 directly below them ; and until just before daybreak, at four 

 o'clock, the most minute objects were distinctly visible. 

 Day broke very slowly, and the sun rose of a fiery and 

 threatening aspect. Rain followed. Captain Bonnycastle 

 caused a bucket of this fiery water to be drawn up ; .it was 

 one mass of light when stirred by the hand, and not in sparks 

 as usual, but in actual coruscations. A portion of the water 

 preserved its luminosity for seven nights. On the third 



