CHAP. Iv. ] THE CRUISES OF THE ‘ PORCUPINE’ 149 
or one might rather say glowing, up to the centre; 
then that would fade, and a defined patch, a centi- 
metre or so long, break out in the middle of an arm 
and travel slowly out to the point, or the whole five 
rays would light up at the ends and spread the fire 
inwards. Very young Ophiacanthe, only lately rid 
of their ‘plutei,’ shone very brightly. It is difficult 
to doubt that in a sea swarming with predaceous 
crustaceans, such as active species of Dorynchus and 
Munida with great bright eyes, phosphorescence 
must be a fatal gift. We had another gorgeous 
display of luminosity during this cruise. Coming 
down the Sound of Skye from Loch Torridon, 
on our return, we dredged in about 100 fathoms, 
and the dredge came up tangled with the long 
pink stems of the singular sea-pen Pavonaria qua- 
drangularis. Every one of these was embraced and 
strangled by the twining arms of <Asteronyx lovéni, 
and the round soft bodies of the star-fishes hung from 
them like plump ripe fruit. The Pavonarie were 
resplendent with a pale lilac phosphorescence like 
the flame of cyanogen gas; not scintillating like the 
ereen light of Ophiacantha, but almost constant, some- 
times flashing out at one point more brightly and 
then dying gradually into comparative dimness, but 
always sufficiently bright to make every portion of a 
stem caught in the tangles or sticking to the ropes 
distinctly visible. From the number of specimens of 
Pavonaria brought up at one haul we had evidently 
passed over a forest of them. The stems were a metre 
long, fringed with hundreds of polyps. 
Ophiocten sericeum, FoRBES, and Ophioscolex pur- 
purea, D. and K., were likewise very common, and 
