QC;E-A.N- fwimming every where in the fea. T h e above-mentioned fhrimps,
as. well as the mollufca, may contribute to make the fea appear luminous
; but I would not venture to- affert fchefe- to be the »«A-
caufes.of the phofphoreal light, after the obfervation- o f the various-
phenomena I made in the courfe o f this- long voyage,
Eirft, I found reafon to doubt, whether.all' tlfe luminous appearances
in the fea are of-the fame nature; for one k ind'of thefe p h e nomena
never extend to a great diflance-from- the fhip.; that part o f
the fea only appears luminous which is clofe to the fhip, and -the
light is likpwife communicated only. tO‘ the top o f theqngxt/waves,
that break obliquely from i t ; and this happens commonly in a
frefh gale.
Another kind o f phofphoreal light I obferved ■ commonly in', or*
immediately fucceeding a long-calm, after hot weather; it fpread -
more over,- and-even mixed,with the body o f the fea, than the-fiir-
mer. When we took the fea-water in-this-condition-into a; tub; i f
there became dark as foon as it was-free-from-motion-: but; at each-
violent agitation-of the water-,, i f appeared luminous; where the
motion was produced; and- feemed' to flick for a motnCnt-only to'
th e finger or hand, which agitated the water, but difeppeared as
iuftatitanfpuflj'.
T h e
Th e third kind of phofphoreal light is no doubt caufed by mollufca
* , whofe whole figure may be diflihguifhed in the wafer by
their own luminous appearance. I have obfe'rved, though rarely, the-
famé effedt to be occafioned by fifh and-fhell-fifh *f- ; and there may'
be likewife feme fhrimps and other infedts J , that are phofphorefcent,
though I have never feen them. But the mofl Angular and furprizing
appearance o f this nature, I obferved in the night preceding Odt. 30,
1772, when we were off the Cape o f Good Hope, at the diflance
o f a few miles from the fhore, and had a frefh gale- Scarcely had.
night lpread its veil over the furfacè o f the ocean-, when it had the
appearance o f being all over on fire. Every wave that broke had a
luminous margin or top.; wherever the fides of the fhip came in.
contadt with the fea, there appeared a line o f phofphore.il light.
Th e eye d-ifcovered this luminous appearance every where on the
ocean; nay, the very bofom o f this immenfe elementfeemed fo be
pregnant with this fhining appearance.. W e few greatboditS illuminated
* The genus of &pj.t orcttttk-fifh, and that ofAd-nV/a or blubber, ihinc in the .rarer in.
the dork, See-smongdtffcrs dir.tie. Syjl. ed, stii. p. 1095..- A fib, HawkfiWorth’s Com- -
pilation.ofV03tag.es,- voK ii. p. t;.-
f Tartyli (Pholades.j His natura in tenebris remoto lumihe, alio fufgere claro. P litu
Hifi. Nat. Id: 9. u. 87,. (61.)
+ Sonie o f the genus of Sctdopendra or Ccntipes, flrine during the darknefs of.'the night-
v/a. the fpecies cnHed'r/tdiWoz and plinfpfjcrca, and peit-Hops' fomeothCr-fpccies, of eVerf'^e'rt'.rs.
The laft-named fpecies fell on board of aihip feyeral hundred miles from any land, and has-,
perhaps-, vytags like the wafer-beetle -whictf; ai ceftairf titfiePMhS'1: S e witef,
.and takes a flight through the air, which may account for the above fa ft. See Lhtrj.. Svfi..
3>Pat. ec$ xii. 1064..
6 3
OC EAN.