39 

 I am stiil convinced that the fish is a Coelacanthid, but hope you 

 will not give any information to the press till I have had an oppor- 

 tunity of examining the specimen in detail. Will you kindly make a 

 special point of finding out from the skipper of the trawler if the 

 fish showed any signs of life when it was caught. I have an idea that 

 it might perhaps have lain somewhere in the ocean bed in some 

 preserving ooze or mud these millions of years. Chemically it is 

 possible. It would be very interesting to know if it was definitely 

 alive or not. If it was there is always the chance of another, and you 

 can offer the trawler people ,£20 for another perfect specimen for 

 me. If by any millionth chance one should be obtained, please 

 have a- large tank made, buy as many gallons of formalin as are 

 necessary, and inject strong formalin all over into the body, and of 

 course telegraph me immediately. It is most aggravating to be so 

 far away, and I am very anxious to come as soon as possible. If you 

 can detach one carefully, kindly send me one of the scales, as they 

 are important in diagnosis. 



Kindest regards. 



Yours sincerely, 



J. L. B. Smith 



This shows clearly that my mind was perpetually reacting 

 against the fantastic idea that any Coelacanth should still be 

 alive. Could one not have been preserved in some antiseptic 

 bottom ooze? But there was no doubt, it had been alive, for it 

 had snapped at the captain's hand, and had lived for several 

 hours after being caught. 



East London. 

 25th January igjg 

 Dear Dr. Smith, 



Bad luck seems to have dogged this fish — I went down to ask 

 Mr. Kirsten whom I got to take photographs of the fish in flesh 

 today and he tells me the entire film was spoilt. 



I wish you could come over to East London. I seem to have no 

 one to get interested and feel very despondent about the photographs. 



Yours sincerely, 



M. Latimer 



At last some scales arrived. They hammered flat most of my 

 doubts. Coelacanth, yes a Coelacanth for certain. Phew ! What lay 

 ahead ? 



