130 THE HAUNTS OF LIFE 



in the body. If this is so, they have their 

 counterpart in the brilliant colours of the 

 withering leaves in autumn. For these colours, 

 as colours, are of no use to the trees. 



BIG EYES AND LITTLE EYES 



Another puzzle of the deep sea is the occur- 

 rence of fishes with big eyes and of others with 

 little eyes. If the fishes were all small-eyed 

 or approaching blindness, it would be easy to 

 say that in a world of darkness they were 

 gradually losing their sight, for we know that 

 gold-fishes kept in absolute darkness for three 

 years become blind, actually losing the per- 

 ceiving elements called rods and cones in the 

 retina of the eye. But what is to be made of 

 the occurrence of big-eyed and small-eyed 

 fishes in the same conditions? Perhaps it 

 might be said that the small-eyed forms have 

 been longest in the abysses, and therefore show 

 greater degeneration of the eye. But this 

 cannot be the whole answer, for in many cases 

 the eyes are unnaturally large so large that 

 they occupy about a fifth of each side of the 

 head. Sometimes they have become what are 

 called telescope-eyes, projecting far forward on 



