16 LIVING LIGHTS. 



drous coloring, having a deep roseate hue. After death, its 

 phosphorescence appears to be intensified, and much of the 

 phosphorescent display is due to it. In nearly all the Cteno- 

 phores the light is erratic, flash succeeding flash, and seem- 

 ing, according to Giglioli, to reside along the zone covered 

 by the vibrating cilia, or little paddles. 



In the interesting group of animals known as Physopho- 

 rce^^ or bubble-bearers, . we find many light-givers of most 

 remarkable form, in their structure reminding one of deli- 

 cate objects in glass ; and, according to Giglioli, all are more 

 or less luminous. In the harbor of Gibraltar, he observed 

 several beautiful forms, as Ahyla, BipTiyes, and Eudoxia; and 

 in the Atlantic, in the latitude of Rio Janeiro, Vogtia, Praia 

 (Plate VI., Fig. 2), Ahyla, and Eudoxia were constantly 

 encountered. These are all so fanciful in design, that they 

 appear to be veritable fairy ships freighted with color-tints 

 and gleams of light. Their luminosity is not scattered over 

 the entire body as in many sea-jellies, but seems confined to 

 fixed points, as in Eucope, a specimen of which, observed in 

 the China Sea, seemed studded with brilliant emeralds, which 

 appeared as marginal knobs at the base of the tentacles. In 

 the Pacific, several species of Biphyes have been observed, 

 their zooids ^^ brilliantly phosphorescent; but the hydroids of 

 this group, so far as known, are not luminous. 



Many beautiful phosphorescent jellies can be observed, as 

 we drift along, by using a small glass cylinder. With the 

 finger pressed upon the top, lower the open end near the 

 little creature, then remove the finger, when the jelly will^be 

 drawn into the improvised aquarium. If the night is dark, 

 the play about its delicate form will be found a rare study. 



Darwin refers to the beauties of the phosphorescent jellies 



