I thought at first that the beacon had been lighted,
and was casting its electric radiance into the liquid mass.
I was mistaken, and after a rapid survey perceived my error.
The Nautilus floated in the midst of a phosphorescent bed which,
in this obscurity, became quite dazzling. It was produced
by myriads of luminous animalculae, whose brilliancy was
increased as they glided over the metallic hull of the vessel.
I was surprised by lightning in the midst of these luminous sheets,
as though they bad been rivulets of lead melted in an ardent
furnace or metallic masses brought to a white heat, so that,
by force of contrast, certain portions of light appeared to cast
a shade in the midst of the general ignition, from which all
shade seemed banished. No; this was not the calm irradiation
of our ordinary lightning. There was unusual life and vigour:
this was truly living light!
In reality, it was an infinite agglomeration of coloured infusoria,
of veritable globules of jelly, provided with a threadlike tentacle,
and of which as many as twenty-five thousand have been counted in less
than two cubic half-inches of water.
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