33 8 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 



Other than the usual disappearance into an opaque, epi- 

 dermal trench. The visibility of hundreds of minute photo- 

 phores scattered over the surface of the body of certain 

 Melanostomiatids was unexpected. These are inconspicu- 

 ous, minute, and in living trawled specimens show no sign 

 of luminosity. 



On early dives and on the first observations of Dive 

 Number Thirty, I reported small, dim fish of uncertain 

 form as not uncommon, and frequently fairly close to the 

 sphere. Also, that from time to time some organism struck 

 the glass and exploded. I discovered on the last dive that 

 the cause of these phenomena was the fluid ejected by 

 shrimps, Acanthephyra and others. Two kinds of emana- 

 tion were observed, one, a homogeneous, luminous cloud 

 which diffused with great rapidity at first and then hung 

 suspended for a considerable time as a faintly luminous 

 area. The other was a discharge of a multitude of very 

 bright sparks, which died out much sooner than the first 

 type. These sparks were much more startling, making us 

 jerk back our heads as from a blow when they occurred 

 close against the glass. 



I cannot hazard even a guess as to the number of blind, 

 unlighted organisms which passed, or those whose lights 

 were dimmed as long as they were in the vicinity of the 

 bathysphere. The number of creatures illumined, the num- 

 ber of functional photophores on individual fish, and the 

 strength and colors of these lights — all these have been far 

 beyond all my expectations. 



