46 



THE PHOSPHORESCENT ORGANS 



tained in the scaleless skin, and are covered by the trans- 

 parent epidermis. This epidermis is of the regular piscine 

 type common in scaleless forms, with the ordinary mucous 

 cells. The epidermis is not, as might be expected, thinner 

 over the organs. In my first sections, from the poor ma- 

 terial, the epidermis had been torn away, and so is not shown 

 in the figures in the plate. 



Between the epidermis and the muscular tissues below, 

 is a rather thick layer of fibrous connective tissue. The 



Section of organ in pleural row, X 160; c = connective tissue capsule; e = epi- 

 dermis; /= fibrous connective tissue; I = lens; p = pigment; r = reflector. 



organs are entirely embedded in this. An organ consists, 

 primarily, of a move or less spherical "lens," resting on the 

 centre of a circular spicular layer or reflector. This spic- 

 ular layer is thicker and turned up at the edges, and at 

 one side in some of the organs so far as to form a sort of 

 pocket. It is composed of numberless, almost indistinguish- 

 able, spicule-shaped fibres. The " spicules" are not con- 

 fined to the reflector, but some of them are scattered along 

 in the connective tissue, between the organs. This spicu- 



