96 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
observe clusters of four or five in nearly constant positions for some 
minutes, so as to give an Impression of constancy of shape to the group for 
the time resembling a stellar constellation. 
The effect in the complete darkness of the dark room is very beautiful 
as the undisturbed organisms spontaneously flash out in the darkness. 
The organisms were now observed at frequent intervals of about ten 
minutes, in order to accurately note the decline and disappearance of the 
phosphorescence. It was observed that the number of organisms flashing 
out was decreasing all the time. The rate of decrease became very rapid 
about 5-30 a.m., when the daylight was just beginning to grow rapidly 
brighter outside. At 6 a.m. there was only an occasional odd flash in each 
dish, showing that only a few organisms in each were still active. At 
6-15 a.m. only one dish (the third of those collected on Thursday) 
was still showimg an occasional gleam; all the other five dishes had 
stopped spontaneous phosphorescence. At 6-30 a.m. all spontaneous 
phosphorescence had disappeared, but a faint display could still be 
elicited in all six dishes by vigorous stirring. At 7 a.m. no sparking 
obtainable in any dish, even on most vigorous stirring; same result 
repeated at 7-30 a.m. 
The organisms on the Polystphonia nigrescens behave similarly to the 
free organisms in the dishes throughout. It was feared that the organisms 
would perish if the sea-water were not changed, so Nos. 1 and 2 of the 
Wednesday tow-nettings were filtered in the dark room through the silk 
of the tow-netting, and then the net beimg turned (so that no fresh 
organisms could be introduced), the organisms were washed into a fresh 
quantity of sea-water poured on to the net. Hence there were in future 
five dishes to observe instead of six, but no alteration in rate of survival 
on account of the changing was observed, and, as the other dishes of 
organisms appeared to be doing well, the process of washing into a fresh 
supply of sea-water, which was exceedingly difficult and awkward in the 
quite dark room, was abandoned. 
The organisms were next examined at 1 p.m., when vigorous stirring 
failed to call forth a single spark in any of the tow-nettings or on the weed. 
The next examination was at 9 p.m., when every one of the dishes 
