MEDUSHI—FALLING STARS. 29 
ter, and the bright reflection from their bodies con- 
trasted pleasantly with the azure tint of the sea. 
On the morning of the 13th June, in lat. 34° 33’, 
they observed large quantities of the Dagysa no- 
tata, of which several had been seen among the me- 
dusze, and which consist of little transparent gela- 
tinous sacs, extending to 14 lines, with a diameter 
of 2 or 3, and open at both ends. These cylinders 
are longitudinally agglutinated like the cells of 
a honeycomb, and form strings from six to eight 
inches in length. They observed, after it became 
dark, that none of the three species of medusa 
which they had collected emitted light unless they 
were slightly shaken. When a very irritable indi- 
vidual is placed on a tin plate, and the latter is 
struck with a piece of metal, the vibrations of the 
tin are sufficient to make the animal shine. Some- 
times, on galvanizing meduse, the phosphorescence 
appears at the moment when the chain closes, al- 
though the exciters are not in direct contact with 
the body of the subject. The fingers, after touch- 
ing it, remain luminous for two or three minutes. 
Wood, on being rubbed with a medusa, becomes lu- 
minous, and, after the phosphorescence has ceased, 
it may be rekindled by passing the dry hand over 
it; but when the light is a second time extinguish- 
ed it cannot be reproduced. 
Between the island of Madeira and the coast of 
Africa, they were struck by the prodigious quantity 
of falling stars, which continued to increase as they 
advanced southward. These meteors, Humboldt 
remarks, are more common and more luminous in 
certain regions of the earth than in others. He has 
nowhere seen them more frequent than in the vi- 
