216 LUMINOSITY OF THE SEA. 



It seems much more probable that the light is the 

 result of passion and action. When a man's feel- 

 ings are strongly roused, whether pleasurably or 

 otherwise, he usually starts into action under a sud- 

 den impulse which sends the blood violently through 

 his veins, causing his face to become flushed and red. 

 This reddening is not the result of will. It is the 

 unavoidable result of passionate impulse, and could 

 not possibly be produced by an effort of the will. 



It is well known that electric fluid permeates the 

 bodies of all animals, more or less ; and it is quite 

 conceivable that under the influence of nervous im- 

 pulse one creature should become luminous, while 

 another only becomes red. Man leaps and sings for 

 joy ; and the result is, that the actions cause his 

 countenance to glow with colour. The marine ani- 

 malcule, experiencing a sudden influx of delight, 

 darts hither and thither under the strong impulse 

 of its exuberant glee ; and the result is, that its 

 little body gleams with light. Vigorous action is 

 the direct cause of the emission of light in the one 

 case, just as vigorous action is the direct cause of 

 the suffusion of the countenance in the other. But 

 in both cases the primary cause is passion at least 

 so it seems to us. 



No doubt fear as well as joy may create vigorous 

 action, and produce the same result; but as we 

 know that, as a general rule, there is much more of 

 joy than of fear dwelling at all times in the hearts 

 of God's creatures, we can well believe that the 



