PLANT-ANIMALS, OR ZOOPHYTES. 169 



One most interesting feature in the history of these 

 zoophytes is the phenomenon of phosphorescence 

 which they exhibit, although they are not the only 

 animals which contribute to the phosphorescence of 

 the sea. One author writes : " I lately had an 

 opportunity of beholding this novel and interesting 

 sight, of the phosphorescence of zoophytes, to great 

 advantage when on board one of the Devonshire 

 trawling-boats which frequent this coast. The trawl 

 was raised at midnight, and great quantities of coral- 

 lines were entangled in the meshes of the net-work, 

 all shining like myriads of the brightest diamonds j" 1 

 and, subsequently, the same writer says : "Numerous 

 friends can bear witness to the exceeding brilliancy 

 of the phosphorescent light emitted by a great 

 variety of species, which I was in the habit of ex- 

 hibiting to them. Once each week I received from 

 the master of a trawling-vessel, on the Dublin coast, 

 a large hamper of zoophytes in a recent state ; in the 

 evening these were taken into a darkened room, and 

 the spectators assembled ; I then used to gather up, 

 with my hands, as much of the contents of the hamper 

 as I could manage, and, tossing them about in all 

 directions, thousands of little stars shone out brightly 

 from the obscurity, exhibiting a spectacle, the beauty 



1 Hassall, in "Annals of Natural History," first series, 

 vol. vii. p. 281. 



