SEA-FAN MAKERS. 213 



species of Dorynchus and Munida, with great bright 

 eyes, phosphorescence must be a fatal gift. 



" We had another gorgeous display of luminosity 

 during this cruise. Coming down the Sound of Skye 

 from Loch Torridon, on our return, we dredged in 

 about 100 fathoms, and the dredge came up tangled 

 with the long pink stems of the singular sea-pen, 

 Pavonaria quadrangularis. Every one of these was 

 embraced and strangled by the twining arms of 

 Asteronyx loveni, and the round soft bodies* of the 

 star-fishes hung from them like plump ripe fruit. 

 The Pavonariae were resplendent with a pale lilac 

 phosphorescence, like the flame of cyanogen gas ; not 

 scintillating, like the green light of Ophiocantha, but 

 almost constant, sometimes flashing out at one point 

 more brightly, and then dying gradually into com- 

 parative dimness, but always sufficiently bright to 

 make every portion of a stem caught in the tangles, 

 or sticking to the ropes, distinctly visible. From the 

 number of specimens of Pavonaria brought up at 

 one haul we had evidently passed over a forest of 

 them. The stems were a metre long, fringed with 

 hundreds of polyps." x 



On another occasion a speculation is indulged in, 

 which may, or may not, be worthy of further con- 

 sideration. Sir Wyville Thomson records a species 



1 "Depths of the Sea," p. 148. 



