Page:Philosophical Transactions - Volume 002.djvu/194

 course I had observed in Animals, not far from the state, at which it would begin to shine; and having cut out a piece of it, I caused the rest to be hung up again in a Cellar, and the exsected piece to be put into a small and transparent Receiver, that we might observe, if a day or two, or more, after the Fish in the Celler should begin to shine, that in the exhausted Receiver would either also shine, or (because that seemed not likely) would, notwithstanding the check, which the absence of the Air might be presumed to give the Putrefaction, be found to shine too, either immediately upon the admission of the Air, or not long after it.

But this Experiment, as I lately intimated, was only design'd and attempted, not compleated; the Receiver being so thin, that upon the exhaustion of the internal Air, the weight of the external broke it; and we could ill spare another of that kind from Trials, we were more concerned to make: Notwithstanding which, we made one Trial more, which succeeded no better than the former, but miscarried upon at quite differing account, viz. because neither the included piece of Fish, nor the remaining, though it were of the same sort with the Fishes I usually employed, would shine at all, though kept a pretty while beyond the usual time, at which such Fishes were wont to grow luminous.

If this Experiment had succeeded, I had some others to try in prosecution of it, which I shall not now trouble you with the mention of. But that this Paragraff may not be useless to you, I'le take this occasion to give you a couple of Advertisements, that may relate not only to this Experiment, but also more generally to those, whether precedent or subsequent, where shining Fish are employed.

the first place then, I will not undertake, that all the Experiments you shall make with rotten'' Fish, shall have just the same success with these I have related. For, as I elsewhere observed, (in a Discourse written purposely on that Subject) that the event of divers other Experiments is not always certain, so I have had occasion to observe the like about Shining of Fishes. And, besides what I lately took notice of at the close of the tenth Experiment, I remember, that having'' once