74 



in the dark. It was perfectly transparent; tinged 

 here and there with orange red, particularly its an- 

 terior feet, and showed the circulation most dis- 

 tinctly." 



Lucifer is a molluscous animal, which contributes in 

 tropical regions to the phosphorescence of the sea. It 

 is colourless and transparent, with the exception of 

 the intestinal canal. It is altogether a very odd-look- 

 ing creature, somewhat vermiform ; its eyes are ex- 

 tremely large, and protuberant, terminating in diffuse 

 foot-stalks. It was taken by Mr. Thompson in the 

 Atlantic, N. lat. 11 56', W. long. 32 55'. The 

 podop.sis, or hammer-headed shrimp, has a distant re- 

 semblance to the preceding, and was also caught in 

 the Atlantic, N. lat. 29 30', W. long. 32 55'. 



Besides a general luminosity in the ocean, it would 

 seem that there are instances of a more local or spe- 

 cific kind. Mr. Thompson informs us that one is pre- 

 sented to the mariner under the semblance of thick 

 bars of metal about a foot long, as it were ignited to 

 whiteness, and scattered over the surface of the ocean : 

 this apparent incandescence is seen close to the vessel, 

 and to follow after, and is owing to the pyrosoma 

 atlantica, a compound animal, resembling a hollow 

 cylinder, of a transparent gelatinous substance open at 

 one end, and protuberant on its surface : this was first 

 discovered and figured by Peron and Le Sueur : the 

 light appears to pervade the entire substance of the 

 animal, and is of a bluish or greenish tinge like a pale 

 sapphire or aqua-marine. This phenomenon may be 

 often witnessed by vessels bound to India, or the 

 eastward of the Cape of Good Hope, in calm lati- 

 tudes near the line. Its geographical distribution had 

 been limited to 19 and 20 longitude W. of Paris, and 3 

 and 4? of N. lat. Mr. Thompson, however, met with it 



