the same. On taking one of them from the water and compressing it in the hand, a luminous, bluish white substance is effused, which remains but a few moments, and leaves the animal dead and lustreless. Another of these beautiful creatures is the Beroe fulgens, or shining beroe, about an inch in length, and of various colors. In shape it is similar to the last mentioned, and its appearance in the water is much It collects also in numbers, but instead of clusters it is found in long chains. In some latitudes, they may be seen floating in myriads, of every hue and shade, from the deep green of the emerald, and the purple and violet of the amethyst, to the clear pellucid sparkle of the diamond. In a calm afternoon, near sunset, they may be observed lying in coils like snakes upon the water, or changing their form and position with every undulation. It was from a knowledge of this circumstance, perhaps, that Coleridge derived the idea of the following beautiful description, in that wild and thrilling poem, 'The Rime of the Ancient Marinere :' 'Beyond the shadow of the ship, I watched the water snakes; They moved in tracks of shining white, "Within the shadow of the ship, I watched their gay attire ; Blue, glossy green and velvet black, They coiled and swam, and every track It is in reality, difficult for the spectator to believe that all these varied and brilliant appearances, are produced by the presence of an inert, and (except a sort of pulsation, caused by contraction and expansion) motionless jelly, which dissolves even while he is examining it. The two last-named species are found in great abundance from the Azores to the Cape de Verds, and perhaps, along the whole extent of coast south of those islands; but this last I have had no opportunities of ascertaining. There are as has been shown, many varieties of the medusa enumerated as possessing the property of lumination. I shall however, confine myself to a notice of some of the most remarkable which inhabit our own seas. The most common of these are the Medusa pellucens of Sir Joseph Banks, one of the varieties of which is frequently met with in Boston harbor, and is doubtless well known to the younger portion of my readers by the name of sunfish,—and the Medusa noctiluca of Forskal, which is about three inches in diameter, and in figure like a mushroom. These last are found in great numbers about the banks which border our coasts, and their presence may be regarded as an indication of the approach to soundings. They are of a brownish color, and have tentacula like the M. pellucens, but thicker and shorter. Their margin is fringed in the same manner to the depth of about three eighths of an inch, and, together with the rays or ribs, resembles a wheel of light, which enlarges or diminishes as the animal contracts or expands itself. Their mode of propelling themselves, like that of the M. pellucens, is familiar to all who have observed the motion of the variety seen about our wharves in the summer season. The former of these, the M. pellucens, is of an hemispherical form, and ordinarily about five inches in diame ter, and the summit of the crown is marked by a circle about an inch and a half in diameter; this is divided into six equal compartments by the intersection of three dark lines; and from the circumference of this circle to the margin of the animal, proceed a great number of radiations of a purple or brown shade. The border is fringed by a small thread-like membrane in the form of scallops, not unlike the gills of fishes, and perhaps answering a similar purpose. From this depend a great number of long tentacula, or feelers, which probably serve the purpose of securing their prey, by entangling it in their folds. From the centre of the interior is suspended a kind of bag, terminating in four or five finger-like points, which appear to be the stomach and viscera. The lustre proceeds chiefly from the crown and margin. This creature's light is extremely brilliant, and the flashes are frequently so vivid as painfully to affect the eyes of one who looks at them for any length of time steadily. I have known the water to be so filled with them on our coasts, after the prevalence of an easterly storm, that it was dangerous to run for the land in the night, owing to the difficulty of distinguishing the lights on the shore, from those in the water which were flashing round us in every direction. At another time, in a heavy gale from the N. E., in lat. 35°, between the Gulf-stream and soundings, I witnessed one of the most magnificent, yet awful scenes, that can be imagined. The night was very dark, with frequent lightning in the western quarter, but until about eleven o'clock, nothing unusual was observable in the appearance of the sea. About that time it began to grow luminous, and by midnight the spectacle was sublime beyond description. The graphic metaphor of Napoleon, in his account of the conflagration of Moscow, might be literally applied to the scene before us, without fear of exaggeration. It was indeed 'an ocean of flame.' The lightning appeared to mingle with, and career along a waste of fire; and each successive shower of spray enveloped hull and cordage and canvass in a sheet of lurid light. The extremities of the spars were glittering with luminous points, and the plies of the rigging were gemmed in the same manner as these were driven from one place to another by the wind, they presented the appearance of sparks from a forge. The effect of the light on the countenance was unpleasant in the extreme, and even appalling. The faces of the crew had a distorted and unnatural air, and wore a green and ghastly look, similar to that sometimes produced on the stage in incantation scenes. The whole left an impression on my mind which will never be effaced. During the prevalence of these phenomena the wind hauled to S. E.; in this quarter it remained about an hour, during which time the light was more vivid than at any other period of its continuance. By straining some of the water carefully through a fine cloth, I obtained a great number of small globules of a bluish color, and the water was left lustreless. These globules were in general not larger than a pin's head; a few of them were about the size of a small pea, and of an oblong figure. It is probable that these were the variety spoken of by Mr. Macartney as the Medusa scintillans, as they were like those he describes, so transparent as scarcely to be perceived in the water, and when held to the light they appeared like small drops of that fluid. They also manifested a disposition to collect together on the surface, where they assumed a pale yellow color. Upon replacing a number of those on the cloth in their native element, no light was visible while it was tranquil, but on agitating the vessel which contained them, a brief, bright flash was thrown out, in consequence of so many of the insects shining at the same instant, resembling the faint lightning of summer evenings. Besides these and several larger medusa, there were numbers of the small shrimp, Cancer fulgens, which gave a very brilliant light, throwing out the flashes apparently at pleasure, and especially when suddenly disturbed. On rubbing these insects to pieces on the cloth, its appearance was similar to the phosphorescence produced by decaying fish; this, however, endured but a very short time. At about two o'clock in the morning the wind suddenly veered to the N. W., and in a brief space, nearly all the luminous particles had vanished. Whether this sudden disappearance was owing to the change in the atmosphere, or to some other cause, I cannot pretend to determine; but I have subsequently observed, that in every instance, where the sea was more than usually filled with these particles, the wind was in the eastern quarter. snow. Similar appearances have been recorded by a number of scientific travellers. M. de Riville, a member of the French Academy of Science, observed the sea during a night on the coast of Malabar, to assume the appearance of a field of Cook and De la Perouse, also, in the course of their voyages, mention its becoming a bright straw-color at times. Pére Bourzes, a Roman clergyman, in his voyage to India, so long since as 1704, witnessed what he termed luminous vortices, which he states appeared and vanished at intervals, like flashes of lightning. Capt Horsburg informed Sir Joseph Banks, that there was a peculiar phenomenon visible in the Indian Ocean in the rainy season. One night, when the sea was very dark, it suddenly changed to a bright flame-color, which continued about ten minutes. It bore no resemblance to the ordinary sparkling or glowing appearance, but was an equally dif fused milky light. The cause of this seems to be satisfactorily given in some remarks communicated by a gentleman to Mr. Macartney. Between New Holland and the coast of China, shortly after sunset, every person on board was surprised at the milky appearance of the sea. It was imagined that they were upon a reef, and that the light was caused by the coral bottom. Upon sounding however, no bottom was found with seventy fathoms of line. This gentleman examined a bucket of water in the dark, and detected the presence of a great quantity of globular bodies about the size of a pin's head, joined together, and emitting a pale phosphoric light. These were so transparent that they could hardly be discerned when taken in the hand into the light. This singular appearance was visible for two evenings. So soon as the moon rose, the sea resumed its usual dark appearance. These remarks are extremely important, as tending to prove that the diffused light of the ocean is caused by the concourse of a vast number of minute medusa near the surface. These globules were undoubtedly to be referred to the variety Medusa scintillans, or sparkling medusa. There is another singular phenomenon, which may be traced to the same source, which has long been a fruitful subject for the superstitious terrors of the ignorant. There are few seamen probably, who have not felt a thrill of awe, an undefinable sensation of mingled fear and wonder, on beholding during the violence of a tempest, a pale, lambent flame hovering about the summit of the mast, or the extremities of the loftiest yards. This sensation is felt by almost every nation; and each has some legend of its portent, from the volatile Frenchman, who shrugs his shoulders, in helplessness, at sight of the Feu Saint Elme,' or St. Elmo's torch, and the timid Portuguese or Spaniard, who devoutly crosses himself and repeats his Ave, when the Corpo Santo' or holy shape appears, to the hardy American or English sailor, who cries out,' Here comes one of these infernal compo-sants.' numerable are the tales of disaster and wreck and death, with which its presence is commented upon, and of which, to their excited imaginations, it is the too certain harbin In |