348 THE ARCTURUS ADVENTURE 



being reduced to half its height and jammed up 

 against the dorsal fin. What at first glance was 

 the lower portion was seen to be only a thin layer 

 of quite transparent tissue, through which visibly 

 extended various bones and fin rays which in any 

 more correctly made fish are always decently con- 

 cealed within the body. I felt like applying Buf- 

 fon's opinion of sloths, that if it had one more de- 

 fect, it would cease to exist. 



When we find ourselves in an egocentric mood 

 such as this, we have but to think what comment 

 Sternoptyx would make on our own figure were we 

 to drift down past him in the darkness of his deep 

 home. He had not nearly as many light organs as 

 his cousin Argyi'opelecus, and they were scattered 

 in patches of twos and threes here and there over 

 his much-angled body. Judging by his color he 

 was a sharer of two zones, a coat of black pigment 

 being overlaid with a tissue of silver. Only once 

 was I fortunate enough to see a live one, which 

 swam feebly in circles for a few minutes. 



Another confusing condition of affairs came to 

 light (in every sense of the word), when I found 

 a brightly illumined blind fish. The lights may 

 have persisted from the time when its eyes were 

 better developed, but a more probable explanation 

 is that the rays act as a lure for small edible 

 creatures, and the fish, through sensations other 

 than sight, is able to detect their presence and 

 to seize them. Until we actually know the cause 

 however, we can only speculate, and allow it to 

 bring such absurd similes to mind as a blind Dio- 



