ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 581 



Results of anatomical importance were obtained from an exami- 

 nation of the marrow of the bones, the spleen, and the lymphatic 

 glands of the subject thus experimented on. 



Phosphorescence in Organic and Inorganic Bodies.* — No tho- 

 rough explanation of the phenomenon of i)hosphorescence has hitherto 

 been put forward. The presence of oxygen is known to be necessary 

 to it, and heating up to upwards of 150° C. produces it in certain 

 organic bodies, but the latter circumstance does not of course afford 

 any clue to its occurrence in living organisms. In the year 1877, 

 however, B. Eadziszewski discovered that the organic compound lophin 

 phosphoresces at 10° C and lower temperatures, provided that oxygen 

 is present, that the reaction is alkaline, and that chemical action is 

 slow. A number of other organic bodies prove to be similarly 

 endowed. 



The chemical formulfe expressing the oxidation of these substances 

 show an analogy with that of phosphorus in process of oxidation, in 

 that the oxygen molecules are broken up and produce an uneven num- 

 ber of atoms. This difference, however, exists, that ozone, which is 

 formed in the case of phosphorus, is not produced in presence of alkali, 

 which is, as seen above, a necessary accompaniment of phosphorescence 

 in these newly-discovered instances. The properties of breaking up 

 the oxygen molecule and forming ozone and peroxide of hydrogen, and 

 of absorbing the ozone when formed, are possessed chiefly by the 

 terpenes, especially oil of turpentine, and by the aromatic hydrocar- 

 bons. This results in the evolution of light in the case of almost all 

 the ethereal oils, oil of turpentine, bergamot, cajeput, &c., provided 

 that oxygen is present, that the reaction is alkaline, and that more or 

 less heat is applied ; the aromatic carbon compounds also act thus, but 

 not under the same circumstances ; they require exposure to the rays 

 of the sun, with access to the air, together with addition of soda and 

 some heat. The property may be regained, if lost, by renewal of the 

 action of the air and of direct sunlight. 



The fats, and especially the fatty oils and their component parts, 

 belong to the same category of substances ; thus oleic-, elaidin-, castor- 

 oil-, brassidin-, and other acids, with their salts or soaps, and their 

 glycerin ethers, or fatty oils proper, have the power of slowly 

 ozonizing oxygen and giving out light under an alkaline reaction. 

 Some of the alcohols, viz,, those containing more than four atoms of 

 carbonic acid in the molecule, phosphoresce under an alkaline reaction ; 

 as also do all the higher monatomic members of the group when 

 warmed with potash or soda. The four little known bodies, tauro- 

 cholic, glycocholic, and cholic acid, and protagon, conduct themselves 

 in a similar manner. 



The compounds lecithin, cholesterin, spermaceti, wax, grape sugar, 

 and other substances formed in the body, also give light under certain 

 circumstances. Possibly the small quantities of the bases soda and 

 potash occurring in the body may be compensated for by the known 



* Liebig's Annalen der Chemie, cciii. p. 305. Cf. Naturforscher, xiii. (ISSO) 

 pp. 352-3. 



