spectrum than that of the higher fungi; and that in regard to the light of fungi (and this is also true for insects) the green rays dominate the weaker yellow and blue rays. I have actually succeeded in distinguishing colors through the spectroscope in the intense light of the previously mentioned Pseudomonas lucifera Molisch-green, blue, and violet. This is the first established case where colors have been seen through the spectrum in the light of a plant.

It is possible to state, on account of the spectroscopic composition of fungous light, that it may be made to act on photographic plates. In fact, the researches of various investigators as Von Haren, Norman, Forster, Barnard, and especially R. Dubois-have taught us that photographs can be taken by bacterial light. If one uses intensely luminous bacteria, such as are at my disposal, it is possible to make photographs of bacteria colonies by their own light by an exposure of five minutes, and if bacteria lamps are employed, to make good pictures of various objects, such as busts, thermometers, and printed matter. In the last instance, however, to secure sharp pictures, the time of exposure must be several hours. On the other hand, if merely an impression upon the plate is desired, a single second of time is sufficient to secure an image of a luminous-streak culture. All pictures so far produced have been the result of light from colonies or mass cultures. But it appears to me not at all improbable, in view of the practically unlimited sensitiveness of photographic plates, that hereafter it may be possible to photograph a single bacterium cell by means of its own light, in the same way as we have succeeded in rendering visible by means of the photographic plate stars in the heavens which are invisible to the naked eye.

The discovery of Röntgen-Becquerel rays and of the emanations proceeding from radioactive elements make opportune the thought that rays of particular quality may also exist in bacterial light. Still the assertion made by R. Dubois that bacterial light has the power of penetrating opaque bodies, like wood and cardboard, is based upon an illusion brought about through the direct action of the wood or paper material on the salts of silver. On the same basis, I am able to explain the remarkable, and from the standpoint of physics utterly puzzling, statements of the Japanese investigator, Muraoka, in regard to the light of the firefly. Fungous light-and the same is true of the light of the firefly-acts upon the salts of silver like ordinary daylight, and is incapable of penetrating opaque objects.

It seems to me to be not without interest that bacterial light also brings about physiological results in plants. Heliotropic sensitiveness is, according to Wiesner, of remarkable intensity, especially in the case of the etiolated seedlings of certain plants. Such plants can discriminate better than the human eye between the most minute differences in light intensity and may therefore with justice be con

sidered as excellent physiological photometers. This extraordinary light sensitiveness induced me to test experimentally the heliotropic power of bacterial light. In fact this light can bring about positive heliotropism in various seedlings, such as the lentil, the pea, and the vetch; and in fungi, as Phycomyces and Xylaria Hypoxylon. We have here a striking spectacle, that of one plant influencing another in its movements; the bacteria, by their production of radiant energy in the form of light, compelling the stem of a plant to extend its growth almost directly toward the source of illumination. Bacterial light does not, however, show itself capable of causing the production of chlorophyl, probably because the light is not sufficiently intense for this process.

We come now to the question whether so striking a phenomenon as this development of light in plants gives indication of being of any practical benefit to them. Zoologists seem to agree that light among the animals is of great importance. For when we consider the instantaneous and explosive generation of light, the sudden expulsion of a luminous secretion and the wonderful construction of a light-producing apparatus in animals inhabiting the darkest depths of the sea, we can have no doubt that such constructions are of service to the organisms, and that a definite use is served by this light-development in the case of many zoological forms. Thus these creatures may, by means of their light, either allure or frighten, or may illuminate their surroundings in order to more easily and successfully capture their prey.

The question in the case of plants is far more difficult to answer. The idea has been advanced that the light capacity of the bacteria may be a means of their distribution. The light of those bacteria occurring in decaying sea animals is said to attract certain animals along the seashore to feed upon these and by scattering the bacteria. to aid in their dissemination. I agree with Beijerinck that, as sea currents, waves, and the sand along the shore bring about the dissemination of these bacteria in the most admirable manner, the beforementioned opinion is untenable.

There may be some doubt in the case of luminous mushrooms; in fact, a well-known biologist, Von Kerner, has expressed the opinion that the light of the mushroom points out the way for fungus gnats and fungus beetles, which lay their eggs in the mycelium and sporebearing tissues of these Hymenomycetes; so that these creatures are in this way of service to the fungus by transporting its spores. At first sight this theory seems to have much in its support, but on closer examination we find there is not a little against it. Thus, in the case of the mushroom Agaricus mellens, it is difficult to understand why the gills, which bear the spores and are easily penetrated by insects, are not luminous, while the myceleum, growing under

SM 1905-27

tree bark or in the wood, is luminous. The luminous fungus threads growing in phosphorescent wood produce, as a rule, no fruit-bearing organs whatever. If the idea of this light of the myceleum were to allure insects or maggots, the result would be simply the destruction of the fungus, for by attracting these animals it would not be disseminated, but fed upon, and thereby destroyed, so that its light would be its ruin. Or if the light of the plant were to serve the purpose of enticing animal forms at night, it is not easy to understand why the plant is not luminous merely at night instead of uninterruptedly by day and by night-that is, at times when the light is wholly imperceptible to these animals. In the case of plants the question is a radically different one from that in the case of animals, and under these circumstances it seems to me better to forego speculations and simply to rest on the fact that at the present time we are unable to give any plausible teleological explanation of luminousity in the Fungi; perhaps, indeed probably, because it is nothing more than an inevitable consequence of the transforming of substances in the luminous Fungi.

If, in conclusion, we glance at our problem from the standpoint of dynamics, it is seen that, in company with various forms of energy in the plant, as heat, electricity, and chemical energy, radiant energy can also be produced in the form of light. A wondrous factor! The green cell in its minute microscopic laboratory, the chlorophyl grain, lays hold upon the energy emanating from the sun and transforms the living force of the light ray into chemical energy. Thereby is produced from the carbonic-acid gas of the atmosphere, with liberation of oxygen, organic matter a storehouse of potential force. This organic matter enters as food into luminous animals and luminous plants, and there by transmutation produces once more heat and light.

Truly a cycle from light to light in the plant! In fact, the light of the living organism is governed by the energy of the sun. When the light of the glowworm, hidden in the grass, pours forth, directing by its lantern the way for its amorous mate; when the Noctiluca or Peridinea, disturbed by the ship's keel or whipped by the waves, suddenly gleam forth; when the sea crabs on the floor of the ocean illuminate the darkness with their organs of light, or when luminous bacteria in decaying flesh or shining mushrooms in old forests flood their surroundings with magic twilight, this light of the organism is fundamentally nothing other than the radiating energy of the sun caught up by the plant and transformed into light. It is the newborn sunlight of the plant.

NOTES ON THE VICTORIA LYRE BIRD (MENURA

VICTORIE).

By A. E. KITSON, F. G. S., Melbourne.

DISTRIBUTION AND DISPERSION OF THE LYRE BIRD.

The Victoria lyre birds are restricted to the densely timbered, moist, hilly, and mountainous parts of eastern Victoria, for they must have abundance of moisture, and food consisting of insects, grubs, worms, etc. The Melbourne to Sydney railway may be taken as the approximate western limit of these birds. They have not been found to the west of that line, nor even nearly up to it in many parts. The reason apparently is that no densely timbered and scrubby humid ranges, with permanent creeks in them, occur to the west of this line on the northern side of the main divide, for neither Futter's Range nor the Mokoan Range near Benalla possesses these characteristics. The main divide itself, where the railway crosses it at Kilmore Junction, at an altitude of 1,145 feet, is rather low, and is not-apparently never was densely scrubbed. Again, although eminently suitable country for these birds is comprised by the Macedon Ranges and those in the Blackwood district, near and on the main divide, also by the Otway Ranges, no lyre birds are found there. In the case of the last, the reason is undoubtedly its isolation. It is completely cut off from the other hilly and mountainous districts of Victoria by the great volcanic plains of the western district, which would form an effectual barrier to the dispersion of the lyre bird southward, even if it were present on the main divide to the north. The bird is so shy that, unless abundant cover be quite close at hand, it will not, under ordinary circumstances, venture into the open forest country, much less cross wide tracts devoid of arboreal vegetation. It is not so obvious why the lyre bird is not present in the thickly timbered and scrubby country of the Macedon Ranges, but apparently this also is due to its comparative isolation. On the east it is separated by a wide dissected volcanic plain, forming a natural barrier. The only practicable bridge of dispersion exists in the main divide itself, which from Wandong on the railway takes a general northwesterly course

a Reprinted by permission, with the author's corrections, from The Emu, Melbourne, Victoria, Vol. V, part 2, October, 1905.

to Mount William, thence southwesterly and southerly to Mount Macedon. About Mount William itself there was, in its original state, a small area which might have been suitable for lyre birds, but on the portions between Wandong and Macedon the want of sufficient moisture and scrub is perhaps the reason of their absence. The birds seem to have spread over southeastern Australia from New Guinea by following through Queensland and New South Wales the mountains. that form the watershed between the Darling-Murrumbidgee basin and the Pacific Ocean; and this within comparatively recent time, considered from a geological point of view.

It is a matter for wonder that in suitable country lyre birds have existed in such numbers as they have done. The native carnivorous fauna destructive to them comprise the dingo or wild dog (Canis dingo), the "tiger cat" (Dasyurus maculatus), and the "native cat" (D. viverrinus). These animals, especially the first two-which are much less numerous than the "native cats "—frequent lyre-bird country. These birds build their nests in spots usually accessible to dingoes, and easily so to the climbing "cats." They have almost invariably only one young one a year, and yet in most of Gippsland and the northeastern district lyre birds exist in much greater numbers than many of the other larger birds which nest in much less dangerous situations, such as the gray magpie, king lory, wonga-wonga, and bronze-winged pigeons, laughing jackass, and black cockatoo. lyre bird is a day bird and roosts in trees at night, so except at nesting time it is practically safe from attack. It is a strong, active bird, and could, even if attacked by a "cat" in a tree, either free itself or drag the "cat" to the ground in its first struggle. But it is comparatively helpless when in the nest, and certainly the young are completely so. One fact, however, aids in its protection. The nest is usually not easily seen, especially if the female bird is inside with her tail raised over her head, as is her wont, thus nearly filling up the entrance and breaking the noticeable black cavity of the empty nest.

The

Near the source of the King River I have seen the birds going to roost in tall green trees. They can not fly upward like an ordinary bird, but rather partially jump upward in a slanting direction with their outspread wings aiding them by soaring, not flapping. To get into these tall young trees, ranging up to nearly 100 feet in height, they went up by stages, taking advantage of short and long tree ferns and the branches of smaller trees.