SEAS OF FLAME. 87 



about to envelop her ; and, as they impinged upon her, her sides 

 seemed to collapse and expand. 



"Whilst this was going on, the ship was perfectly at rest, and 

 the water was like a millpond. 



" After about half an hour had elapsed, the brilliancy of the 

 light som§what abated, and there was a great paucity of the faint, 

 lustrous patches which I have before referred to ; but still the body 

 of light was great, and, if emanating from these patches, was 

 out of all proportion to their number. 



"This light I do not think could have been produced without 

 the agency of electro-magnetic currents exercising their exciting 

 influence upon some organic animal or vegetable substance. And 

 one thing I wish to point out is, that, whilst the ship was stopped 

 and the light yet some distance away, nothing was discernible in 

 the water ; but, so soon as the light reached the ship, a number of 

 luminous patches presented themselves : and, as these were equally 

 as motionless as the ship at the time, it is only natural to assume 

 that they existed, and were actually in our vicinity, before the 

 light reached us, only they were not made visible till they became 

 the transmitting media for the electro-magnetic currents. This 

 hypothesis is borne out by the fact that each wave of light in its 

 passage was distinctly seen to pass over them in succession ; and, 

 as the light gradually became less brilliant, they also became less 

 distinct, and had actually disappeared so soon as the waves of 

 light ceased to exist." 



A little Ascidian called the Salpa is quite famous for its 

 luminous properties. Like the previously mentioned form, it 

 is a free swimmer, two kinds of individuals being recognized. 

 One is known as solitary ; while the others are termed chain 

 zooids, being many joined together, forming long chains, the 

 links represented by the individual animals. 



