Sunday, October 23, 2022

The Ignis-Fatuus or Will-O’-The-Wisp ©

 

 

In marshy and boggy places, a light is sometimes seen to hover over the ground by night, appearing from a distance like a taper gleaming from some cottage window. The light is caused by the lighting up of an inflammable gas produced by decaying animal and vegetable matter in bogs, marshes and stagnant pools. It is found that when damp soils are drained, the Will-o'-the-Wisp disappears. 

Plate 25. 'The Ignis Fatuus' from the collection of the Science Museum Group, HERE.  


“Ignis Fatuus”, “foolish fire”, “Jack-o’-Lantern”, “Will-o’-the-wisp”, or “corpse candle”, “the hinkypunk”, “elf-fire”, “feu follet”, “irrlicht”1, call it what you will, but all are names used to describe the same phenomenon; a glowing orb of spectral light shining, always just out of your grasp, luring you on, floating above the farthest reaches of a bog, swamp or fetid pool.  If you try to touch it, you just might sink into the muddy depths, never to be heard from, or seen again!

 

An excerpt from Knowledge, “The Ignis Fatuus”, page 47.


Ooooh…Spooky!  But is it a real, natural phenomenon, or something supernatural?

 

Ignis fatuus is a phenomenon whose cause has perplexed scientists for centuries, and even today scientists still don’t agree on exactly what causes it.  Will-o’-the wisp, or ignis fatuus, has been discussed scientifically since at least 1596, when Ludvig Lavater, wrote of Ghostes and Spirites, in the chapter titled "That many naturall things are taken to be ghoasts"

 

An excerpt from Knowledge, “The Ignis Fatuus”, page 47.


Ignis fatuus was often encountered at night in burial grounds or churchyards, in swampy, boggy marshes, particularly those that had been recently disturbed or dug into, or when it is raining. 

 

A challenge with understanding the phenomenon that causes ignis fatuus is that early reports and research were inconsistent, with some stating that the flames were cold and produced no heat, and others reporting that ignes fatui could light slips of paper on fire and even explode!  While most early observers spoke of ignis fatuus as being a flame, some very prominent researchers did not.  As a matter of  fact, Sir Isaac Newton, in the third book of his “Opticks”, thought that “Ignis Fatuus is a Vapour shining without heat, and is there not the same difference between this Vapour and a Flame, as between rotten Wood shining without heat and burning Coals of Fire? 

 

Compounding the problem of understanding the cause of this strange occurrence, apparently during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, will-o’-the-wisps, or ignes fatui were more commonly seen than they are today.  Interestingly, researchers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries thought that there was a direct correlation between the decrease in sightings of ignes fatui and the increase in the draining of swamplands to make more farmland; so, the fewer and smaller the wetlands, the fewer and less often are will-o’-the-wisps seen.

 

Many times candles & small fires appeare in the night, and seeme to runne up and downe... Sometime these fires goe alone in the night season, and put such as see them, as they travel by night, in great feare. But these things, and many such lyke have their naturall causes... Natural Philosophers write, that thicke exhilations aryse out of the earth, and are kindled. Mynes full of sulphur and brimstone, if the aire enter unto it, as it lyeth in the holes and veines of the earth, will kindle on fier, and strive to get out.

An excerpt from Of Ghostes and Spirites, by Ludwig Lavater, 1596.


So, what could it be?

 

An Ignis Fatuus, or Will-o'-The-Whisp. As seen in Lincolnshire, 1820, from the collection of the Science Museum Group, HERE.


So just what could it be?  Researchers and other observers of ignis fatuus have at various times suggested everything from marsh gas, bio or chemiluminescence, geologic or piezoelectric occurrences, ball lightning or even the supernatural to explain will-o’-the-wisps, or ignes fatui.  Let’s talk about a couple of them.

An excerpt from Knowledge, “The Ignis Fatuus”, page 48.


Take a walk in a bog, swamp or marsh and you will see bubbles, floating to the surface.  You might even see an oily, rainbow film floating on the surface of the water, like gasoline spilled on wet pavement, this is naturally occurring liquid hydrocarbons.  Marshes, bogs, and swamps contain large, thick deposits of rotting plants and other organic materials, and as underwater microorganisms decompose them, “marsh gas” is produced.  Marsh gas is made up of three flammable gases, methane (CH4), diphosphane (P2H4) and phosphine (PH3)2. 

 

Methane is the primary component of marsh gas, and the “ignition theory” as the source for the will-o’-the-wisp.  But what ignites the methane?  Methane doesn’t spontaneously ignite below temperatures of 999oF or 537ºC, so without an ignition source how does the ignis fatuus form?

 

It forms because as underwater microorganisms decompose phosphorus containing proteins, phosphine and diphosphane gases are formed and produce a lovely rotting fish smell.  Phosphine gas can self-ignite at temperatures above about 99o F or 37o C, but diphosphane gas, which is more unstable, ignites spontaneously in air, at room temperatures of only 68o to 75o F, or 20o to 24o C3.  So as these three hydrocarbon gases bubble to the surface and contact the air, due to oxidation, the phosphine and more importantly the diphosphane gas ignite spontaneously, creating the spark that ignites the flammable methane and voila, a naturally formed ignis fatuus!

 




An excerpt from “Ignis Fatuus”, by Fernando Sanford, page 365.


Cold flame, fox fire, glow sticks and fireflies are all example of either bio or chemiluminescence.  While most observations of ignis fatuus seem to be describing some form of combustion, apparently of marsh gas, others seem to be describing some type of bio or chemiluminescence.  But what is bio or chemiluminescence, you ask?  Simply put, it is the emission of light (luminescence) as the result of a chemical reaction, with or without any emission of heat.

 

There are many things that exhibit bio or chemiluminescence, and the phosphine(PH3) gas, in marsh gas, is one of them, and it might be able to explain the sightings of cold flame.  In 2008, researchers Luigi Garaschelli and Paolo Boschetti, of the University of Pavia’s organic chemistry department, writing in “On the track of the will-o'-the-wisp”, suggested that phosphine’s natural chemiluminescence might be an explanation for the strange sightings of ignis fatuus instead.  Phosphine according to these researchers could react with oxygen and nitrogen in the air and although this puts out only a dim light, in the dark of the night, in a dank, murky depths of a swamp it would be easily visible.

 




A traditional Irish turnip Jack-o'-lantern from the early 20th century, at the Museum of Country Life, Ireland, from Wikimedia, HERE.


But maybe, hidden in all of the glimmers of burning marsh gas, lies a supernatural origin for ignes fatui, or will-o’-the-wisps.  Maybe Stingy Jack O’ The Lantern, truly exists, lighting the way for, or leading astray travelers in the nighttime swamps, in a never-ending cycle of Halloween trick or treat!

 

An excerpt from Irish Miscellany; “Jack O’ The Lantern”, November 27, 1858, page 247.


According to the law of parsimony (also known as Occam's razor), the simplest solution is often the best, and while marsh gas is less interesting than a supernatural origin, I believe that this is the simplest and best solution to the problem of what causes ignis fatuus.  But, while it seems that self-igniting marsh gases are behind the sightings, in the end, just like with the Mothman, the truth of will-o’-the-wisp, or ignis fatuus may never be known.  Anyways, Happy Halloween!

 

Don’t forget to come back next week and read about “Path-Pilot Compass ©”, where we will talk about a really cool piece of gear that unfortunately they don’t make any longer.

 


I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at BandanaMan Productions for other related videos, HERE.  Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE, and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube.  If you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site.  I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.

 

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

 

 

Notes

 

1 The plural of these are “ignes fatui”, “feux follets” and “irlichter”.

 

2 Methane used to be known as light carbureted hydrogen or light carburetted hydrogen and also as “fire damp” and phosphine used to be known as phosphureted or phosphuretted hydrogen.

 

3 Room temperature scientific calculations, room temperature is taken to be roughly 68o to 75o F or 20° to 23.5°C, with an average of 73°F, or about 21°C.  From New World Encyclopedia, HERE.

 

Sources

 

Borrows, Peter; “Marsh gas, or hydrocarbons on the heath”, Education In Chemistry, December 31, 2007, [© Royal Society of Chemistry 2022], https://edu.rsc.org/opinion/marsh-gas-or-hydrocarbons-on-the-heath/2021054.article, accessed October 22, 2022

 

Chapman, Kit; “Phosphine”, April 12, 2017, Chemistry World, [© Royal Society of Chemistry 2022], https://www.chemistryworld.com/podcasts/phosphine/3007120.article, accessed October 22,2022

 

Irish Miscellany; “Jack O’ The Lantern”, Volume 2, Number 42, Boston, November 27, 1858, page 246 to 247, https://www.google.com/books/edition/Irish_Miscellany/YIcyAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22forsaken+craythur%22&pg=RA1-PA246&printsec=frontcover, accessed October 20, 2022

 

Jones, David; “Fire with no spark”, Chemistry World, April 23, 2014, [© Royal Society of Chemistry 2022], https://www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/fire-with-no-spark/7288.article, accessed October 22, 2022.

 

Sanford, Fernando; “Ignis Fatuus”, The Scientific Monthly, Volume 9, Number 4, October 1919, pages 358 to 365, https://www.jstor.org/stable/6287#metadata_info_tab_contents, accessed October 15, 2022

 

Science Museum Group Collection; Plate 25. 'The Ignis Fatuus', by Josiah Wood Whymper, Phenomena of Nature, Published for the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London, 1849, [© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London], https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co8033684/phenomena-of-nature-the-ignis-fatuus-book, accessed October 15, 2022

 

Science Museum Group Collection; An Ignis Fatuus, or Will-o'-The-Whisp. As seen in Lincolnshire, engraved by T. W. Cook after Pether. Published by R.N. Rose, London, 1820. [© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London], https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co64526/engraving-an-ignis-fatuus-print, accessed October 15, 2022

 

Tomlinson, Charles; “The Ignis Fatuus”, Knowledge, March 1, 183, London, page 46 to 48, https://archive.org/details/knowledgev140nov16londuoft, accessed October 19, 2022

 

Wikimedia; A traditional Irish turnip Jack-o'-lantern from the early 20th century, at the Museum of Country Life, Ireland, by Rannpháirtí anaithnid, July 21, 2009, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Traditional_Irish_halloween_Jack-o%27-lantern.jpg, accessed October 15, 2022

 

No comments:

Post a Comment