In this, as in all his later entertainments, he was the sole performer; he represented various characters, making very rapid changes of dress while talking, singing, and displaying his remarkable powers of mimicry and ventriloquism. He went to Scotland in 1830, where he brought out ‘Love in a Labyrinth, or the Adventures of a Day,’ and in 1833 he opened at Oxford with a piece called ‘Ignes Fatui.’ In Lent 1834 he made his first appearance in London, and acted at the City of London Assembly Rooms, Bishopsgate Street, for several months.
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As we have seen so far, Moreton pays close attention to the most practical points of his project, as it also happens with the inadequacy of the street lighting system in London; after all his aim is to render the city "strongly guarded, and so gloriously illuminated".Defoe D. (1729), Second Thoughts Are Best, p.1. Moreton proposes that: > a convenient number of lamps be set up, and those not of the convex kind, > which blind the eyes, and are of no manner of use; they dazzle, but give no > distinct light, and further, rather than prevent robberies. Many persons, > deceived and blinded by these ignes fatui, have been run over by coaches, > carts, &c.
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An 1882 oil painting of a will-o'-the-wisp by Arnold Böcklin. In folklore, a will-o'-the-wisp, will-o'-wisp or ignis fatuus (, plural ignes fatui), is an atmospheric ghost light seen by travelers at night, especially over bogs, swamps or marshes. The phenomenon is known in English folk belief, English folklore and much of European folklore by a variety of names, including jack-o'-lantern, friar's lantern, hinkypunk and hobby lantern and is said to mislead travelers by resembling a flickering lamp or lantern. In literature, will-o'-the-wisp metaphorically refers to a hope or goal that leads one on but is impossible to reach or something one finds sinister and confounding.
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Some reports claim the light can only be seen after 8 pm on dark nights, are always two to ten feet above the ground, and if followed during the night, one could be misled from the road and lose their way in thorny jungles or desert of the salt flats of the Rann. A team of local and US ornithologists and soldiers of the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) who patrol the adjoining Rann of Kutch international border area of India with Pakistan have allegedly seen the light. In modern science, it is generally accepted that most ignes fatui are caused by the oxidation of phosphine (PH3), diphosphane (P2H4), and methane (CH4). These compounds, produced by organic decay, can cause photon emissions.
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