LUMINOl'S SUBSTANCES 111 



circumstances ; some of them while livin?, and others nottill after 

 death. We shall first notice the general history of this extraordi- 

 nary fact, and the observations upon it which tirst sugnested 

 themselves to those who remarked tnd examined it, and afterwards 

 glance at a few of the numerous modes of which it has of late years 

 been attempted to be accounted for. 



General History and earliest Notices. 



That light occasionally proceeds from putrescent animal and ve- 

 getable substances, as well as from living glow worms, was 

 noticed by Aristotle. Columba, an industrious naturalist, ob- 

 served long after, that several insects emitted light, and that such 

 light is not extinguished immediately upon the death of the animal. 

 But the first distinct account that we meet with of light proceeding 

 from putrescent animal flesh, is that which is given by Fabricius ab 

 Aquapendente, (De Visione, p. 45.) who says, that when three 

 Roman youths, residing at Padua, had bought a lamb, and had 

 eaten part of it on Kaster-day, 1492, several pieces of the re- 

 mainder, which they kept till the day following, shone like so many 

 candles when they were casually viewed in the dark. Part of this 

 luminous flesh was immediately sent to Aquapendente, who was 

 professor of anatomy in that city. He observed, that both the lean 

 and the fat of this meat shone with a whitish kind of li^ht, and also 

 took notice, that some pieces of kid's flesh, which had happened 

 to have lain in contact \^ith it, were luminous, as well as the fingers 

 and other parts of the bodies of those persons who touched it. 

 Those parts, he observed, shone the most which were soft to the 

 touch, and seemed to be transparent in candle-light ; but where 

 the flesh was thick and solid, or where a bone was near the outside, 

 it did not shine. 



From this period we must descend to the era of Thomas Bar- 

 tholin, before we meet with any similar notice. This writer, in a 

 distinct treatise De luce animalium (p. 183, 206) mentions four 

 kinds of luminous insects, two of which were possessed of wings, 

 and two wingless, or apterous. He also takes notice of one instance 

 in which it was observed to issue from dead matter. This happened 

 at Montpelier in 1641, when a poor old woman had bought apiece 

 of flesh in the market, intending to make use of it the day follow- 

 ing. But happening not to be able to sleep well that night, and 

 her bed and pantry being in the same room, she observed so muck 



