THE SECRETS OF THE SEA 333 



that which falls as a "rain " a great amount of food 

 stuff is washed out from the littoral regions, where 

 it decays very slowly in the cold waters of the 

 deeper ocean. It is stated on good authority that 

 over wide areas on or near the sea bottom it forms 

 a sort of broth, a veritable free soup kitchen. So 

 the food is amply provided, and it is not necessary 

 for the animals which swarm in this part of the 

 sea to make any great effort to obtain it. It 

 reminds one of people in the tropics lying under 

 the trees and having fruit fall into their mouths. 



It is probable that still other conditions favor 

 the development of life in this intermediate 

 "archibenthal" zone which lies on the border of 

 the abyssal or profoundly deep regions. Many 

 of these animals have been so gradually driven 

 from the warm, sunlit shallows of the littoral 

 region into the deeper waters that in all prob- 

 ability they find the want of heat and light no 

 drawback to their existence. In some cases deep 

 sea animals are blind, the eyes having been re- 

 duced to mere rudiments because they were no 

 longer needed; in others the organs of sight are 

 wonderfully developed, so that they probably see 

 quite well in a dim light. Many of the forms of 



