NIGHT BENEATH THE SEA 361 



dollars to find this out. During my experiments in the Chesa- 

 peake Bay I conceived the idea that a five thousand watt light 

 assembly would bring a vast assortment of marine life to my 

 observation post. Accordingly I purchased a number of ex- 

 pensive electric bulbs, special waterproof wire to carry the 

 current, and suitable fuses and switches. When the apparatus 

 was lowered in the water and turned on, it produced a tre- 

 mendous glare, lighting the water for yards around. It im- 

 proved visibihty tremendously but little came to its beam. In 

 disgust, I gave it up and returned to the old method of using 

 flashlights, which was much more satisfactory. 



After the schoolmasters were gone I was deluged for about 

 ten minutes with a crowd of half-beaks. These came from near 

 the surface and were one of the types that found the light an 

 irresistible attraction. They must have been traveHng in a 

 loose-knit school for they arrived within a few seconds of each 

 other, dropping in out of the darkness above like silver and 

 green comets. Their greenness was most unusual. It shimmered 

 over their scales with a delicate glaucous iridescence, and the 

 border of each scale was outlined in vivid emerald. These same 

 fish when taken out of their element are plain silver but few. 

 fishes appear underwater as they do in the open air. Some day 

 I would like to prepare a color chart for the quick recognition 

 of tropical fishes in their natural element. It is most confusing 

 to read in the identification keys that mullet, for example, are 

 silver with faint gray stripings only to find when viewed on 

 their own level and in their own element that they are not silver 

 at all but gorgeous flaming lavender; or that Spanish mackerel 

 are not olive platinum but are adorned with body-length streaks 

 of fiery yellow which disappear when they are taken out of 

 water, leaving no hint of its existence. 



The glaucous tone of the half -beaks was not nearly as un- 

 usual as the appearance of their heads. Their lower jaws were 



