14 



SCIENTIFIC NEV\^S. 



Qan. 6, iS 



WILL-O'-THE-WISP. 



NOT often has "dry" natural science to deal with 

 the phenomena which figure in folk-lore. An 

 exceptional case is afforded by the nocturnal occurrence 

 known to the learned as Ignis Fatims, and to the masses 

 in different regions as Jack-o'-Lantern, Will-o'-the-Wisp, 

 Wild- (or rather Wold) Fire, Friar's-Lantern, Feu Follet, 

 Hcerwisch, etc. The exception is the more noteworthy, 

 as modern physics and chemistry have not succeeded in 

 finding a satisfactory explanation of the facts. Facts they 

 are beyond doubt. The ignis faiims, though by no means 

 common, has still from time to time been seen by com- 

 petent witnesses, and occasionally by several persons in 

 company. Nor is such evidence disputed. Let any 

 man of sober habits and good repute state that he saw a 

 Will-o'-the-wisp at such and such a time or place, and the 

 most sceptical of our orthodox savants will listen with 

 calm interest, and though he may question the narrator 

 closely as to the details of the case, he will by no means 

 proclaim it a priori impossible, or throw out any hints 

 concerning " dominant ideas." 



If we examine the most recent and trustworthy records 

 of this phenomenon, we find it described as a light which 

 appears in calm, mild nights, chiefly in summer or 

 autumn. It is most commonly seen in marshy places, 

 or where much organic matter is undergoing decomposi- 

 tion. Dr. Phipson describes it as most common in England 

 " in the peaty districts around Port Carlisle in Cumber- 

 land, and on the Continent in the damp valleys between 

 the pretty little university town of Marburg and that of 

 Cassel, and more certainly still in the grave-yards out- 

 side the town of Gibraltar." The light is generally single, 

 though sometimes two wisps have been seen together. 

 It glides or bounds along at a variable speed, sometimes 

 maintaining the same level, but at other times falling, 

 rising, and overleaping hedges, trees, etc., and it may 

 often be tracked to a distance of a couple of hundred 

 yards from the spot where it originates, or rather where 

 it is first observed. It is recorded as in many cases moving 

 toivards a pool or swamp, and there disappearing. The 

 light is said to be globular, spheroidally elongated, or 

 pear-shaped, about the size of " two fists," and varying 

 in colour and brilliance, being at times' visible even in 

 the light of a full moon. 



So much for points authenticated by the accordant 

 testimony of trustworthy observers. Popular tradition 

 goes much further. The spectators are said to have 

 sometimes received sudden blows or shocks. According 

 to an old German story, some village children having 

 irritated a Wisp by crying out — 



" Heerwisch, lio, ho, ho ! 

 Brennst wie Haferstroh ! " — 



it pursued them into a house, and stunned every person 

 present by blows with its fiery wings. Folk-lore, indeed, 

 distinctlj' personifies the Wisp, and ascribes to it the 

 intention to mislead the solitary traveller, and entice him 

 into a swamp or pond. I cannot help here remarking 

 that mediasval tradition personifies certain phases of the 

 nightmare, as the terms Incubus and Succuba plainly 

 testify. Some persons even now doubt if these pheno- 

 mena are always purely subjective. 



This view of the Wisp is by no means extinct, as will 

 appear from the following extract from Light, June 24th, 

 1882. A contributor of that journal, who uses the ;;07W 

 de plume " Miror," gives the following account as told 

 him by an old cottager : — 



" ' When a ploughboy, at Purbeck, I was sent to the 

 blacksmith, who lived some distance off, with some 

 harness to be mended. The blacksmith was at chapel ; 

 this delayed the work, and it was not till half-past 

 nine in the evening that I could start for home. It was 

 pitch dark, and as I went along a Jack-o'-Lantern came 

 hopping before me. It was not above the size of your 

 two fists. I was quite aware that Jack-o'-Lanterns come 

 to lead you out of your path, so I kept my foot in the 

 rut all along the country road till he, the Jack-o'-Lantern, 

 hopped over a gate, where there was a pond close by, 

 and tried to entice me there.' 



" At the above very evident testimony of evil intention, 

 the boy was overwhelmed with fright, and taking to his 

 heels, rushed he knew not where, till he came to a house. 

 There they took him in, and one of the inmates accom- 

 panied him over the fields, and put him on his way home. 



" ' I had not gone far,' continued the old man, ' before 

 another Jack-o'-Lantern came hopping before me, and 

 tried to entice me to a swamp which lay on one side 

 of my way ; but I knew where I was, and went straight 

 for home, half dead with fear. Never again would I go 

 to that blacksmith's of an evening.' 



" ' If he had not kept his foot in the rut,' broke in 

 the old woman, his wife, ' it might have been all over 

 with him. When a Jack-o'-Lantern gets you in the 

 water, then he sniggers ; he laughs, you know. I've 

 heard my father say that scores of times.' 



"Thus we see the old woman brought forward the 

 testimony of her father also with respect to the traditional 

 shady character of the Jack-o'-Lantern. 



" ' You call the Jack-o'-Lantern he,' I said. ' You talk 

 as if you thought it knew what it was about, and by 

 luring you into danger it had an object in view, and not 

 a good one.' 



" ' Just so,' said the old man. 



" On the man's assenting to the woman's assertion 

 that ' when a Jack-o'-Lantern gets you into the water 

 then he laughs,' I pressed the question, ' Do you really 

 mean to say that they are /ward to laugh — that they make 

 the noise of laughter ? ' ' Yes,' was the reply. ' But 

 how,' I rejoined, ' can people know that they laugh when 

 those who are led by them get drowned, and do not live 

 to tell it ? ' " 



It is curious that " Miror " speaks of this his own 

 objection — formidable, if not absolutely fatal, as it appears 

 to us, — as " rather lame, special pleading." It must not 

 be forgotten that the occurrence is said to have taken 

 place at Purbeck. Now, in the West of England the 

 tendency to personification is very strong, and the country 

 people speak of many things as " he," which in the 

 metropolitan district and in the north are always referred 

 to as " it." 



{To be continued.) 



Bethnal Grken. — At the Memorial Hall, some instructive 

 lectures, intended for working lads, have been given during 

 the past month. Dr. Gerard Smith gave two lectures on 

 " The Structure of Trees and Plants," and " Microscopic Life 

 in the Sea ; " and Mr. C. A. Newton delivered one on "The 

 Wonders of the Heavens." Under the auspices of the 

 Society for the Extension of University Teaching, Prof. H. 

 G. Seeley, F.R.S., lectured on " Glimpses into Nature's Work- 

 shop." The first lecture dealt with the action of " Water : 

 the Earth Leveller ; " the second with that of " Ice : the Earth 

 Engraver ; " and the last with " Underground Heat : the Earth 

 Moulder and Modeller." 



