92 THE WONDER OF LIFE 



transition is too rapid for a readjustment to be effected. 

 It is well known that Deep-Sea fishes brought up in the 

 dredge are apt to suffer explosion and distortion in the 

 ascent. 



Another adaptation that leaps to the eye is the specializa- 

 tion of tactile appliances, as is natural enough in a world of 

 darkness. There may be antennae longer than the whole 

 body, groping a long distance ahead, so that the animal 

 can feel its way as a blind man does with his stick. Many 

 of the long legs of crustaceans bear tactile bristles and many 

 of the fishes have long slender barbules stretching back- 

 wards from the chin or from the fins. They are often well- 

 innervated and their suitability for the conditions is evident 

 enough. 



An Extraordinary Deep-Saa Cuttlefish. As an 

 example of an extraordinary abyssal type, we may take 

 Cirrothauma murrayi, one of the captures of the Michael 

 Sars North Atlantic Deep-Sea Expedition of 1910, which 

 was carried out under the auspices of the Norwegian Govern- 

 ment and the superintendence of the late Sir John Murray 

 and Dr. Johan Hjort. Three thousand metres of wire were 

 out when this new cuttlefish, which has been carefully de- 

 scribed by Prof. Chun, was captured, and it is a wonder 

 that it came up in a condition to be examined. For its 

 fragility recalled that of a Ctenophore, which is saying a 

 good deal ; the body was gelatinous and semi-transparent ; 

 a delicate web united the arms, through the whole length of 

 which the nerves could be seen shining. The gelatinous 

 body had an exceedingly faint violet colour, while the parts 

 round the mouth and the basal portions of the arms showed 

 the purple chocolate colour which occurs in many Deep-Sea 

 animals. While most cuttlefishes are covered with chroma- 



