LIFE IN THE GREAT DEPTHS 105 



ally non-compressible and that animals whose 

 tissues are filled with water do not suffer owing 

 to the pressure being equal on all sides, where- 

 as, if their tissues contained air, they would be 

 squeezed to a fraction of their original size. 

 A rise of an inch in the barometer piles half 

 a ton or so upon our own bodies and yet we 

 suffer no inconvenience as the pressure is equal 

 on all sides. So the deep-sea creatures can 

 exist through large variations in water pres- 

 sure and many species are found at depths of 

 from six to two thousand fathoms. 



When drawn to the surface, however, these 

 deep-sea creatures fairly burst with the release 

 of the pressure under which they have lived. 

 The eyes are forced from their sockets, the 

 scales and skin fall off, the swimming blad- 

 ders of fishes are forced from their mouths and 

 oftentimes the specimens are scarcely more 

 than detached fragments by the time they can 

 be preserved. 



- The sole occupation of these deep-sea crea- 

 tures is to eat, breed and escape their natural 

 enemies and with many species eating appears 

 to be of more importance than anything else. 



