Democratic Sentinel, Volume 11, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 August 1887 — Light in the Sea. [ARTICLE]

Light in the Sea.

When the contents of a dredge are hauled up from the deep sea at midday the curious shapes and colors of animals alone attract attention; but if they are examined at night they develop a new feature, gleaming with a wonderous light that is little understood. The star fishes brought up at certain peaces are all seemingly heated to a white heat, the gleams running up and down the arms, making the animal a marvel of beauty. Especially among the stars known as ophinrans is the light most brilliant and interesting. Even the very young ones sparkle like gems. A dredge has been taken from a great depth fairly overflowing with these dazzling creatures, telling a wonderful story of the condition of things below the surface. These are the light of the bottom, and in shoaler water we shall find anemones and corals emitting a wonderful light. Perhaps the most striking light given is a group of polyps, growing upon a stem three or four feet in length, resembling a tall candlestick. The name of this creature is the umbellularia, and it was first found in deep water off the coast of Greenland, the trawl bringing up such large numbers that it was evident that the ship had passed over a veritable forest of them. Imagine a corn field a mile or so below the surface, the stalks four feet long, and the ears emitting a golden greenish light of wonderful softness; think of this as spread over acres of surface to an indefinite extent, the lights waving here and there in gentle undulations; imagine fishes darting through them with gleaming headlights, others outlined in fire, while far above are great globes of light, with soft aureolas, and some idea of this world beneath the sea can be formed. The sea-pens, to which this curious form is allied, are nearly all wonderfully luminous. Some resemble short pens; others, as virgularia, are long and slender; while others again look like plumes. One of the latter, known to science as veretillum, has been used as a lamp, several being confined in a glass, affording light enough to read by at a distance of twelve inches. The seapens afford interesting objects to experiment with, 'they are fringed with polyps, and when one of the arms is pi'nched the light appears gradually spreading to the other parts in regular succession, a very few seconds sufficing for the illumination of the entire animal. On the Patagonian coast, some years ago, there was an etremely low tide, exposing a shoal covered with a variety of sea-pens, and at night, when they all gleamed with pnosphorescence, •the sight is described as rt sembling the lights of an immense army that was slowly swallowed up as the tide came in.

The jelly fishes, or medusa, are among the most remarkable of all light-givera, and, with few exceptions, they are luminous, some being more so than others, and much of the phosphorescence of the Pacific, as seen from the decks of vessels, is due to these creatures that are so beautifully formed and so delicate in color, yet in reality are 95 per cent, water; in all jelly fishes 5 per cent, will represent the solid part. In. some, as pelagia, the entire animal is luminous, its shape being outlined iu foil, as it were, while in others only certain portions aro light-emitting. Not only are thepe creatures phosphorescent, but tho colors are different; some emit a golden light; in others it is green or azmre, and some seem to combine several tints. Again, certain ones are luminous all the time; others show their light in a fitfiul way or when disturbed, and during ithe autumn of the year, when these radiant creatures are hurled against the rock and ground up, their lights seem to combine in turning the eaftire ocean into a seething caldron.— San Francis* o Chronicle.