THE NIGHT-LIGHTS OF THE SEA. 9 



wash of the paddles behind. What is that strange 

 gleam of light which ever and anon you see tipping 

 the foam-crest with a weird effulgence and an uncanny 

 gleam ? 



As the moon passes behind a cloud, and the night 

 grows darker for the obscuring of the Queen of Night, 

 this strange light on the waves literally glows with its 

 fiery sheen. You are fortunate to-night in that you 

 can see this tl phosphorescence of the sea/' as it is 

 named, in all its splendour. Look how every fleck 

 of spray seems tinged with a radiance as of jewelled 

 kind. Flashes of lambent fire play among the foam, 

 and now and then a long ripple of flame shoots along 

 the whole course of the wave that rushes aft from 

 the bow. 



Suppose you could lift a bucket of water from the 

 sea to-night, and that in your deck-cabin you had 

 your microscope in full array, let us endeavour to 

 see what such a scrutiny of the waves would tell us 

 about the cause of the phosphorescence of the deep. 

 The water would be seen to be alive with animalcules, 

 each the mere fraction of an inch in length. Closely 

 studied, each animalcule the Noctiluca by name is 

 in shape not unlike a bean. It is curved or convex 

 on its outer margin, while on the inner side it is 

 concave and deeply indented. 



On the hollowed side it bears a single tentacle or 

 " feeler," which is in active movement. Of structure 

 or organisation this Noctiluca possesses little or none. 

 It is an animalcule belonging to one of the lowest 

 grades of animal life. Its substance consists of that 

 life-matter of which, under the name of protoplasm, 

 you have heard so much in days gone by. It is a 

 little living speck, and nothing more. Here and 



