14 THE OCEAN WOKMX 



The phosphorescence of the sea is a spectacle at once Imposing and 

 magnificent. The ship, in plunging through the waves, seems to 

 advance through a sea of red and blue flame, which is thrown off by 

 the keel like so much lightning. Myriads of creatures float and play 

 on the surface of the waves, dividing, multiplying, and reuniting, so 

 as to form one vast field of fire. In stormy weather the luminous 

 waves roll and break in a silvery foam. Glittering bodies, which 

 might be taken for fire-fishes, seem to pursue and catch each other 

 lose their hold, and dart after each other anew. From time im- 

 memorial, the phosphorescence of the sea has been observed by 

 navigators. The luminous appearance presents itself on the crest of 

 the waves, which in falling scatters it in all directions. It attaches 

 itself to the rudder and dashes against the bows of the vessel. It 

 3>lays round the reefs and rocks against which the waves beat, and on 

 silent nights, in the tropics, its effects are truly magical. This 

 phosphorescence is due chiefly to the presence of a multitude of 

 mollusks and zoophytes which seem to shine by their own light ; 

 they emit a fluid so susceptible of expansion, that in the zigzag 

 movement pursued they leave a luminous train upon the water, which 

 spreads with immense rapidity. One of the most remarkable of 

 these minute mollusks is a species of Pyrosoma, a sort of mucous sac 

 of an inch long, which, thrown upon the deck of a ship, emits a light 

 like a rod of iron heated to a white heat. Sir John Herschel noted 

 on the surface of calm water a very curious form of this phosphores- 

 cence ; it was a polygon of rectilinear shape, covering many square 

 feet of surface, and it illuminated the whole region for some moments 

 with a vivid light, which traversed it with great rapidity. 



The phosphorescence of the sea may also result from another cause. 

 "When animal matter is decomposed, it becomes phosphorescent. The 

 bodies of certain fishes, when they become a prey to putrefaction, emit 

 an intense light. MM. Becquerel and Breschet have noted fine phos- 

 phorescent effects from this cause in the waters of the Brenta at 

 Venice. Animal matter in a state of decomposition, proceeding from 

 dead fish which floats on the surface of ponds, is capable of producing 

 large patches of oleaginous matter, which, piled upon the water, com- 

 municates to a considerable extent the phosphorescent aspect. 



Whatever may be the case elsewhere, there are local causes which 



