n8 THE HAUNTS OF LIFE 



different. They have enormous heads with 

 strong jaws and teeth, and very large round 

 bodies, so that they look as if they were " noth- 

 ing but a mouth and a stomach." Sometimes 

 the lower part of the skin of the body is so 

 loose that it can stretch to an enormous extent, 

 and more than once a fish has been dredged 

 up containing within it, still undigested, an- 

 other as big as, if not bigger, than itself! 



Before we leave the question of food, we 

 should be clear in regard to two things first, 

 that the absence of living plants in the Deep 

 Sea is bound to make the animal's struggle for 

 existence very keen; and, second, that what 

 count for most are not the bodies of big ani- 

 mals that occasionally sink to the bottom, but 

 the minute creatures which are ceaselessly 

 sinking. It is rather a pretty picture the 

 ceaseless rain of dead animalcules sinking 

 through the miles of water like snowflakes on 

 a quiet winter evening. 



NO ROTTENNESS 



We are accustomed to think of Bacteria as 

 practically omnipresent, playing many a role 

 in the drama of life, now helping and again 



