Page:Hobson-Jobson a glossary of colloquial Anglo-Indian words and phrases, and of kindred terms, etymological, historical, geographical and discursive.djvu/404

FIREFLY. ...They gather in the rainy season in great multitudes in the bushes and trees, and live on the flowers of the trees. There are various kinds."—Nieuhoff, ii. 291.

1764.—

1824.—

1865.—"The bushes literally swarm with fireflies, which flash out their intermittent light almost contemporaneously; the effect being that for an instant the exact outline of all the bushes stands prominently forward, as if lit up with electric sparks, and next moment all is jetty dark—darker from the momentary illumination that preceded. These flashes succeed one another every 3 or 4 seconds for about 10 minutes, when an interval of similar duration takes place; as if to allow the insects to regain their electric or phosphoric vigour."—Cameron, Our Tropical Possessions in Malayan India, 80-81.

The passage quoted from Mr. Cameron's book was read at the Entom. Soc. of London in May 1865, by the Rev. Hamlet Clarke, who added that:

Mr. McLachlan then suggested that this might be caused by currents of wind, which by inducing a number of the insects simultaneously to change the direction of their flight, might occasion a momentary concealment of their light.

Mr. Bates had never in his experience received the impression of any simultaneous flashing ... he regarded the contemporaneous flashing as an illusion produced probably by the swarms of insects flying among foliage, and being continually, but only momentarily, hidden behind the leaves.—''Proc. Entom. Soc. of London'', 1865, pp. 94-95.

Fifteen years later at the same Society:

1868.—"At Singapore ... the little luminous beetle commonly known as the firefly (Lampyris, sp. ign.) is common ... clustered in the foliage of the trees, instead of keeping up an irregular twinkle, every individual shines simultaneously at regular intervals, as though by a common impulse; so that their light pulsates, as it were, and the tree is for one moment illuminated by a hundred brilliant points, and the next is almost in total darkness. The intervals have about the duration of a second, and during the intermission only one or two remain luminous."—Collingwood, Rambles of a Naturalist, p. 255.

1880.—"—One of the surest indications of the approach of the monsoon is the spectacle presented nightly in the Mawul taluka, that is, at Khandalla and Lanoli, where the trees are filled with myriads of fireflies, which flash their phosphoric light simultaneously. Each tree suddenly flashes from bottom to top. Thousands of trees presenting this appearance simultaneously, afford a spectacle beautiful, if not grand, beyond conception. This little insect, the female of its kind, only appears and displays its brilliant light immediately before the monsoon."—Deccan Herald. (From Pioneer Mail, June 17).

FIRINGHEE, s. Pers. Farangī, Firingī; Ar. Al-Faranj, Ifranjī, Firanjī, i.e. a Frank. This term for a European is very old in Asia, but when now employed by natives in India is either applied (especially in the South) specifically to the Indian-born Portuguese, or, when used more generally, for 'European,' implies something of hostility or disparagement. (See Sonnerat and Elphinstone below.) In South India the Tamil P'arangi, the Singhalese Parangi, mean only 'Portuguese,' [or natives converted by the Portuguese, or by Mahommedans, any