172 



A we$l polished piece of amber, will yield light if 

 rubbed in the dark. And if it be drawn swiftly through 

 a woollen cloth, very many little cracklings are heard, and 

 each produces a little flash of light. If drawn gently it 

 .produces a light, but no crackling. 



The splendor of the sea water during the night, hath 

 long been a subject of admiration, and upon the coasts 

 of Chioggia it is particularly remarkable : at first sight 

 one would imagine that the brilliant images of the fixed 

 stars were reflected by the sea, when agitated by the 

 winds. This brightness becomes much more vivid and 

 copious, in places abounding with the Alga Marina, or 

 sea weed. 



One summer night I took a vessel full of the sea 

 water home with me. I placed it in a dark room, and 

 observed as often as 1 disturbed the water, a very bright 

 light issued from it. I then passed the water through 

 a very close linen cloth, to try if it would still retain its 

 splendour after such percolation. But notwithstanding 

 JL agitated it in the most violent manner, I could not ex- 

 cite the least luminousness in it. The linen cloth how- 

 ever afforded the most charming spectacle imaginable : 

 it was covered with an infinity of lucid particles. To the 

 naked eye they appear smaller than the finest hairs : 

 their colour of a deep yellow, and their substance deli- 

 cate beyond imagination : but having a mind to exa- 

 mine them more curiously, 1 furnished myself with a 

 good microscope, and was soon convinced that these lu- 

 minous atoms are really living animals of a very singu- 

 lar structure, and from the brightness of their lustre, I 

 thought myself authorised to name them marine glow- 

 worms. 



The^e little animals, similar to caterpillars, and other 

 insects of that species, are composed of eleven articula- 

 tions, or annuli, a number which, according to the ce- 

 lebrated Malpighi, is peculiar to the whole vermicular 

 Upon these annuli, and near the belly of the ani- 



