NATURAL HISTORY. 
429 
the hedge, which he thought at first proceeded from a lantern, 
but it immediately came and attached itself to the ears of his 
horse, in the form of two globules, where it remained for 
several minutes. The Lights of St. Helme, or corpus sanctum, 
commonly called by sailors cormazants, a blue flame, like that 
of a candle, seen at the mast head, generally during a storm, 
or soon after it, are frequently observed at sea. The Master of 
the brig Venture, of Wanganui, noticed as many as five lumi¬ 
nous balls at once, settling on different parts of the rigging. 
The mate was bold enough to climb up, and touch them; he 
said, they were merely luminous bubbles, which burst when 
touched, and the lights were immediately extinguished. These 
marine lights most probably arise from the decomposed re¬ 
mains of fish, raised to the surface by the violent motion of 
the water in storms. In the same way at Kaitaia, lights were 
observed hovering over the graves of several recently interred 
corpses. 
KKPE REPE -UALLORYNCHC9 AUSTRALIS. 
