LUMINOUS BIRDS AND OTHER ANIMALS. 115 



village to another at night, when suddenly a large meteor 

 shot across the heavens, seeming to fall before them. A few 

 miles farther on, in crossing a small swamp, they found sev- 

 eral patches of a jelly-like matter, which gleamed as if at a 

 white heat, which so alarmed them, that they ran into the 

 next village, crying that a comet had fallen, and was burn- 

 ing up the earth. So much excitement was created that 

 some scientific men visited the spot, finding the comet to be 

 merely the mucus that had surrounded the eggs of a frog, 

 and had become luminous. If the mucus was luminous when 

 it surrounded the eggs, we may well imagine that birds 

 would be deterred from eating them ; but the luminosity 

 probably precedes decomposition in the mass after the young 

 have escaped. 



Among the lizards, a gecko has been mentioned as a light- 

 giver, as if these curious creatures were not remarkable 

 enough in themselves without this attendant phenomenon. 

 According to Dr. Carpenter, the eggs of the gray lizard have 

 been seen to emit light ; and in Surinam he states that a frog 

 or toad is luminous, especially in the interior of its mouth. 

 Thus we see that this strange light is found in some form 

 from the lowest to the highest animals, one of the com- 

 monest of phenomena, yet presenting a problem defying 

 solution. 



