PHOSPHOEESCENCE OF THE SEA. 13 



is most frequent in the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Gulf, and other 

 tropical seas. In the Indian Ocean, Captain Kingman, of the American 

 ship Shooting Star, traversed a zone twenty-three miles in length so 

 filled with phosphorescent animalcules that at seven hours forty-five 

 minutes the water was rapidly assuming a white, milky appearance, 

 and during the night it presented the appearance of a vast field of 

 snow. " There was scarcely a cloud in the heavens," he continues, 

 " yet the sky, for about ten degrees above the horizon, appeared as 

 black as if a storm were raging ; stars of the first magnitude shone 

 with a feeble light, and the ' Milky Way ' of the heavens was almost 

 entirely eclipsed by that through which we were sailing." The 

 animals which produced this appearance were about six inches long, 

 and formed of a gelatinous and translucent matter. At times, the 

 sea was one blaze of light, produced by countless millions of minute 

 globular creatures, called Noctilucss. The motion of a vessel or the 

 plash of an oar will often excite their lucidity, and sometimes, after 

 the ebb of tide, the rocks and seaweed of the coast are glowing with 

 them. Various other tribes of animals there are which contribute to 

 this luminous appearance of the sea. M. Peron thus describes the 

 effect produced by Pyrosoma Atlantieum, on his voyage to the Isle of 

 France : " The wind was blowing with great violence, the night was 

 dark, and the vessel was making rapid way, when what appeared to 

 be a vast sheet of phosphorus presented itself floating on the waves, 

 and occupying a great space ahead of the ship. The vessel having 

 passed through this fiery mass, it was discovered that the light was 

 occasioned by animalcules swimming about in the sea at various depths 

 round the ship. Those which were deepest in the water looked like 

 red-hot balls, while those on the surface resembled cylinders of red-hot 

 iron. Some of the latter were caught : they were found to vary in 

 size from three to seven inches. All the exterior of the creatures 

 bristled with long thick tubercles, shining like so many diamonds, and 

 these seemed to be the principal seat of their luminosity. Inside also 

 there appeared to be a multitude of oblong narrow glands, exhibiting 

 a high degree of phosphoric power. The colour of these animals when 

 in repose is an opal yellow, mixed with green ; but, on the slightest 

 movement, the animal exhibits a spontaneous contractile power, and 

 assumes a luminous brilliancy, passing through various shades of deep 

 red, orange green, and azure blue." 



