eb of gold, and as we lift it from the water,
heavy rills of molten metal seem to flow down its sides and collect in a
glowing mass at the bottom. The truth is, the Jelly-Fishes, so sparkling
and brilliant in the sunshine, have a still lovelier light of their own
at night; they give out a greenish golden light, as brilliant as that of
the brightest glow-worm, and on a calm summer night, at the spawning
season, when they come to the surface in swarms, if you do but dip your
hand into the water, it breaks into sparkling drops beneath your touch.
There are no more beautiful phosphorescent animals in the sea than the
Medusae. It would seem that the expression, "rills of molten metal,"
could hardly apply to anything so impalpable as a Jelly-Fish, but,
although so delicate in structure, their gelatinous disks give them a
weight and substance; and at night, when their transparency is not
perceived, and their whole mass is aglow with phosphorescent light, they
truly have an appearance of solidity which is most striking, when they
are lifted out of the water and flow down the sides of the net.

The various kinds present very different aspects. Wherever the larger
Aureliae and Zygodactylae float to the surface, they bring with them a dim
spreading halo of light, the smaller Ctenophorae become little shining
spheres, while a thousand lesser creatures add their tiny lamps to the
illumination of the ocean: for this so-called phosphorescence of the sea
is by no means due to the Jelly-Fishes alone, but is also produced by
many other animals, differing in the color as well as the intensity of
their light; and it is a curious fact that they seem to take possession
of the field by turns. You may row over the same course which a few
nights since glowed with a greenish golden light wherever the surface of
the water was disturbed, and though equally brilliant, the
phosphorescence has now a pure white light. On such an evening, be quite
sure, that, when you empty your buckets on your return and examine their
contents, you will find that the larger part of your treasures are small
Crustacea (little shrimps). Of course there will be other phosphorescent
creatures, Jelly-Fishes, etc., among them, but the predominant color is
given by these little Crustacea. On another evening the light will have
a bluish tint, and then the phosphorescence is principally due to the
Dysmorphosa.

Notwithstanding the beauty of a moonlight row, if you would see the