FOX-FIRE 



23 



Fox-fire is occasionally put to a cruel utility by 

 hunters in association with the "salt-lick" for 

 deer. Salt is scattered in a selected spot, and a 

 piece of fox-fire adjusted beyond it in direct line 

 of the aim of the rifle, which is securely fixed in 

 place. The sudden obscuration of the light is a 

 sufficient signal for the still-hunter, who has only 

 to pull the trigger to secure the game, even though 

 the latter be entirely hid in the darkness. 



The more common examples of fox-fire are 

 small bits of decayed wood, but most astonishing 

 specimens have been observed. In addition to 

 the fine example mentioned by Hawthorne, there 

 is an authentic record of a single log twenty-four 

 feet in length and a foot in diameter which was 

 one mass of brilliant phosphorescence. 



