I04 THE OCEAN 



their representatives in shoal water, so mar- 

 vellously coloured, so gigantic in size or so 

 remarkable in form that they are scarcely 

 recognisable. In addition to these lower ani- 

 mals are a great many squids, and octopi, and 

 numbers of fish, and among these occur the 

 strangest and weirdest of forms. 



I have already mentioned the enormous 

 pressures which obtain at great depths as well 

 as the Stygian darkness and intense cold and 

 nearly every living creature drawn from its 

 natural home on the ocean's bed is specially 

 formed and peculiarly adapted to life under 

 such conditions. Many of them are so flabby, 

 pulpy and jelly-like that they almost drop to 

 pieces when they reach the surface, although 

 in their natural homes the very flabbiness of 

 their tissues enables them to withstand the 

 great pressure of the water which is equal in 

 all directions, — both outside and within their 

 bodies. 



At first thought it seems strange to think of 

 any creature existing under the enormous 

 pressure of several thousand fathoms of water, 

 but we must remember that water is practic- 



