Adaptations of Fishes 



193 



firmation of the morphological result stated above that no 

 specific nerves are distributed to the phosphorescent organs. 



" I can explain the action of the electrical current in these 

 experiments only on the supposition that it produces its effect 

 by direct action on the gland. 



" The experiments just related were all tried on specimens of 

 the fish taken from under the rocks where they were guarding 



FIG. 147. Cross-section of a ventral phosphorescent organ of the Midshipman, 

 Porichthys notatus Girard. I, lens; gl, gland; r, reflector; bl, blood; p, pig- 

 ment. (After Greene.) 



the young brood. Two specimens, however, taken by hooks 

 from the deeper water of Monterey Bay, could not be made to 

 show phosphorescence either by electrical stimulation or by 

 treatment with ammonia. These specimens did not have the 

 high development of the system of mucous cells of the skin 

 exhibited by the nesting fish. My observations were, how- 



