Natural History. -^Zoology, 401 
the fallacy of such opinion. This numerous and splendid ge-. 
nus contains not fewer than 239 species. 
28. Luminous property qf the Ocean as derived from In-' 
secis , — The Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences (Savans 
Etrang. tom. hi. p. 267.), contain the observations of Godeheu 
de Riville on two minute marine animals, one of which is very 
remarkable for its phosphorescent qualities. It is not, strictly 
speaking, an insect, but belongs to that subclass of the Crusta- 
cea, called Entomostraca by the French naturalists. Latreille 
regards it as falling under the genus Lynceus of Muller, which 
is one of the many necessary generic branches of the Linnsean 
Monoculus. 
Among the various phenomena,’’ says the author alluded 
to, “ of which the causes are still almost unknown, that starry 
brightness, which we so often perceive in the slightly agitated 
waters of the ocean, greatly merits the attention of those who 
have a taste for physics ; but I have not yet read any thing sa- 
tisfactory on the subject, as writers seem to have satisfied them- 
selves rather with conjectural reasons, than by making experi- 
ments to ascertain the real origin of this natural phosphorus.” 
During a voyage made by our author to the East Indies, he 
was enabled to make the following observations : About 9 in the 
evening of the 14th July 1754, being in N. Lat. 8° 47', and 
E. Long. 73°, from Paris, he was informed that the sea appear- 
ed like a sheet of fire. Every portion of its surface, when gently 
agitated, broke into a thousand stars. Each wave which coursed 
along the side of the vessel, spread out a pure, shining, silvery 
light. The more distant swelling of the waters presented the 
appearance of a moving plain covered with snow, and the wake 
of the vessel was of a clear and luminous white, sprinkled over 
with brilliant spots of azure light {azures). 
“ Anxious,” he continues, ‘‘ to consider a spectacle, to me 
alike novel and interesting, I was struck by the light shed by 
certain small bodies, which frequently remained attached to the 
helm, when the sea for a moment retired ; and, without listen- 
ing to all that was said regarding the supposed cause of the phe- 
nomenon, I ordered a bucket of water to be drawn up, and fil- 
tered into a basin through a fine linen handkerchief After this 
o]:)eration, I observed that the filtered water was no longer lu- 
