ANNOTATIONS AND ADDITIONS. 58 



as in the Gardens of the Horticultural Society, It ripens its 

 seeds regularly : I have examined it repeatedly very closely 

 and carefully, and have never been able to discover a 

 penetration of pollen-tubes either in the style or ova- 

 rium. In my herbarium the male- blossoms are in small 

 catkins." 



( 5 ) p. 7. -"Shine like stars." 



The luminosity of the ocean is one of those superb natural 

 phenomena which continue to excite our admiration even 

 when we have seen them recur every night for months. The 

 sea is phosphorescent in every zone ; but those who have not 

 witnessed the phenomenon within the tropics, and especially 

 in the Pacific, have only an imperfect idea of the grand and 

 majestic spectacle which it affords. When a man-of-war, im- 

 pelled by a fresh breeze, cuts the foaming waves, the voyager 

 standing at the ship's side feels as if he could never be satis- 

 fied with gazing on the spectacle which presents itself to his 

 view. Every time that in the rolling of the vessel her side 

 emerges from the water, blue or reddish streams of light 

 appear to dart upwards like flashes of lightning from her keel. 

 Nor can I describe the splendour of the appearance presented 

 on a dark night in the tropic seas by the sports of a troop 

 of porpoises. As they cut through the foaming waves, fol- 

 lowing each other in long winding lines, one sees their mazy 

 track marked by intense and sparkling light. In the Gulf 

 of Cariaco, between Cumana and the Peninsula of Maniquarez, 

 I have stood for hours enjoying this spectacle. 



Le Gentil and the elder Forster attributed the flashing to 

 the electric friction excited by the ship in moving through 



