Experimental Researches

John Murray (17851851) a writer and lecturer on many different scientific topics published this collection of essays on what might be called the physics of biology in 1826. The first essay on the luminosity of glow-worms begins with an extensive discussion of the beauty and effects of light and the various ways of creating it before considering the various theories of light and optics current at the time. Supplied with specimens from Sweeney Hall in Shropshire where they flourished he performed various experiments on the ''luminous spherulae'' which were the source of the glow-worm''s light trying to establish their chemical composition and the time they would remain glowing in different media and temperatures. The same attention to detail and ingenious analysis are shown in the other studies on the luminosity of the sea the strength and lightness of spider webs the chameleon''s colour changes and ''the torpidity of the tortoise''.