SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 335 



obscured by the flare. I soon learned to encircle a light with 

 my eyes, and on one side or the other I often could detect 

 the body of the organism, and frequently, details of its out- 

 line and size. If this method were not followed, the only 

 things seen from the windows were meaningless lights and 

 flashes, shining in impenetrable darkness. To undisturbed, 

 complete concentration, there were many more planets 

 than stars in these abyssal constellations. 



Second only in respect to dark-adaptiveness is the factor 

 of familiarity with the organisms. Tee-Van and I have 

 been capturing and examining many of the more common 

 of these creatures for six years, some of them even coming 

 up alive in the nets, so it was not difficult to recognize on 

 sight a considerable number. Yet I mistook Cyclothones for 

 worms many times at first. Indirect recognition is by cor- 

 relation of the isolated spots of light with remembered 

 positions of photophores on the bodies and heads of pre- 

 served specimens. Now that I have completed another sea- 

 son, I realize how terribly imperfect and inadequate are my 

 observation and interpretation of this astonishing fauna of 

 the deep sea. 



3. BIOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS 



(a) Abundance 



A vertical haul with a meter net in these waters yields 

 but a meager amount of life. A thin scattering of plankton 

 with perhaps a few Cyclothones and Myctophids. Even a 



