THE METEORS OF THE SEA. 13 



seat of the phosphorescence is confined to the locomotive 

 rows ; and so exceedingly sensitive are they, that the slight- 

 est shock is sufficient to make them visible by the light 

 emitted from the eight phosphorescent plates." 



Professor Agassiz also states that the Lueernaria '', a hand- 

 some green sea-jelly, emits a peculiar bluish light of an 

 exceedingly pale steel color. While all these forms are 

 beautiful individually, their combined forces produce an 

 array of splendors hardly to be described. Such pyrotechnic 

 displays of Nature are best observed during the autumn, 

 when the jellies are wrecked and stranded ; the waves hurl- 

 ing them in, and grinding them up upon the rocks, which 

 , appear bathed in warm, lambent lights. 



At Spouting Horn, on the New-England coast, this lumin- 

 ous water is forced through a small -chimney or crevice in 

 the rocks, with a reverberating roar; sending skyward a 

 column of gleaming water, that breaks in mid-air and falls 

 in golden spray. In drifting along in a boat at this time, 

 every movement of the oar produces the most astonishing 

 results. A slight splash is followed by a blaze of light. By 

 having a companion keep up a continuous motion of the 

 water, I have almost been able to read the print of a 

 newspaper by the light of these disintegrated forms. One 

 of the most striking displays of this phenomenon I have 

 ever witnessed was at the little port of Ogunquit, Me. 



Returning, one dark night, from an off-shore fishing excur- 

 sion, I saw, as we approached the harbor, an irregular row of 

 lights, apparently lanterns in the hands of friends. We 

 hailed, and not until we were nearly in the surf were we 

 undeceived. The rocks were lined with kelp ; and, when the 

 waves came in, the glowing, sparkling mass of medusae caught 



