igo2 Some Deep-Sea Plunder 313 



rather than impart instruction ; but presumably the upward 

 floating of the bag is due to the sudden transition of the 

 fish, during the hauhng process, from the depths to waters 

 nearer the surface, and the consequent too rapid swelhng of 

 the air-bladder under the influence of the decreased pressure. 

 This supposition, indeed, seems to be borne out by the fact 

 that many of the luckless fish had the gullet protruding 

 from the mouth, forced thither, I imagine, by the untimely 

 behaviour of the bladder : but for the presence of so many 

 air-bubbles in the water it seems difficult to account. 



The second puzzler was the condition of most of the fish 

 (I refer here to the cod and its kin), when the bag having 

 been hoisted up on the tackles, and the knot at the end 

 untied, they fell, flapping and feeble, on the deck. If picked 

 up, still struggling, and thrown overboard, a cod or haddock 

 — as a general rule — would float helplessly on the water, 

 utterly unable to get below the surface, and would even- 

 tually expire in its own element. Such a course of action 

 would seem the natural result of an unduly enlarged bladder, 

 the creature having no means of voluntarily reducing the 

 size of that organ ; but — and here is the point — that same 

 fish, if first stabbed in the belly with a knife before being 

 thrown overboard, would then vanish into the deep like a 

 streak of silver lightning. I must own to less knowledge of 

 the structure of, say, a cod, than perhaps befits a contributor 

 to these pages, but since it seems unlikely that the slight 

 incision in the belly could affect the bladder, I can only 

 suppose that in some manner the abdominal cavity becomes 

 inflated, and until artificially relieved in the manner indi- 

 cated, prevents the fish from sinking. Such an explana- 

 tion — and I should be gratified if some better-informed 

 reader would endorse or enlighten me — would possibly 

 account also for the presence of the air-bubbles in the water 

 already alluded to, — though it would hardly explain the also 

 curious fact that in some waters the bag, when rising to the 

 surface, will float slowly upwards until its end is just visible, 

 while in others it comes with such a rush that it leaps out 

 several feet above the level of the waves. 



The various catches were never-failing sources of interest, 

 and the contents of each bag were eagerly awaited. Off 



