262 



S. STILLMAN BERRY. 



Upon writing to Senhor de Noronha and to Senhor Adao 

 d'Abreu Nunes, to whom, I believe, belongs the credit for the 

 actual capture of the specimens, these gentlemen courteously 

 responded with notes of so great intrinsic interest that it seems 

 desirable by means of a somewhat free translation to publish 

 them in full, the more especially as direct observations on the 

 luminosity of cephalopods in life under natural conditions are still 

 of exceeding rarity. 



The following excerpt is in free translation from a letter from 

 Sr. de Noronha under date of November 13, 1921. 



"In reading my notes, I find that the cephalopod was 

 captured by a friend, a great fish enthusiast, toward midnight 

 of the I9th of June, 1917, at the surface of the sea and in the 

 artificial harbor of Pontinha, to the west of Funchal. 



?, 



FIG. i. Sketch map of the Bay of Funchal. The point of capture of the 

 specimens of Abralia veranyi mentioned in the text is marked by a+. 



"I was there on the quay myself that selfsame evening, and 

 I was very happily able to record that the animal was luminous, 

 the light being very vivid and of a lovely ultramarine blue. 

 One saw 5 lights ('foyers'), disposed in an arc around the eye 

 and on the lower region of this organ, 2 of these photophores 

 being larger and 3 smaller. On the body, the head, and the 

 arms there were many similar lights, which were more numerous 

 on the ventral side. I also noticed that out of the water the 

 animal was still very lively and tried to bite in its anger. 



"From the jetty was perceived from time to time an indi- 



