8 W. C. M'Intosh on the Protozoic-Ahsorption Theory. 



due to the zoophytes, the annelids, or both, does not signify 

 for our argument. Both are found between tide-marks, and in 

 immense quantities in the Laminarian region immediately be- 

 yond, where there is abundance of light. Neither, therefore, 

 supposing it were able i o profit by that gift, requires its lumi- 

 nosity to aid it in its search for nourishment ; nor do the 

 Nudibranchs which prey on the zoophyte, or the devourers 

 of the annelid, stand in need of this artificial guide to their 

 respective means of support. 



The abyssal theory of light thus gains little succour from 

 the Annelids. 



It is stated in the report that, since fishes feed principally 

 at night, the phosphorescence of the larvse on the surface, for 

 instance, is an example of a provision for feeding the herring. 

 The stomachs of cod, haddock, whiting, flounders, and other 

 fishes, however, give no such result in regard to luminous anne- 

 lids. Even if such were the case in the herring, it would not 

 be a solid basis on which to found the abyssal theory of light. 



On the whole, then, the present state of our knowledge does 

 not warrant the supposition that luminosity is given to marine 

 animals for the purpose of preying or being preyed upon ; 

 moreover, that the abysses of the ocean are not better supplied 

 with this provision than the littoral region and the shallow 

 Laminarian zone — indeed much less than the surface of the 

 sea itself. It may yet be a question, according to some ob- 

 servers, whether the phosphorescence may not in some cases 

 act a part exactly the reverse of alluring, and so tend to pre- 

 serve the species from attack. A speculation to this effect 

 could be as easily established as the foregoing. The theory 

 has much of the visionary character of (I^rsted's scheme as 

 to the occurrence of marine animals in variously coloured 

 strata corresponding to the solar spectrum ; and some other 

 explanation must be advanced as to the presence of well- 

 formed eyes in certain animals at great depths in the sea. 



2. The Protozoic-Ahsorption Theory. 



In regard to the speculation that marine Rhizopoda have 

 the power of absorbing, after the manner of the Entozoa, the 

 organic matter which certain analyses of oceanic water showed 

 to exist therein, some reflections suggest themselves. 



In the first place, there does not appear to be any serious 

 difficulty in accounting for the supply of nourishment to the 

 abyssal Rhizopoda, since the whole ocean lies at their com- 

 mand. Minute organisms and minute organic particles of all 

 kinds surely abound, and currents, however slow, must bring 

 a constant supply for even a larger population of such micro- 



