THE HAUNTS OF LIFE 



95 



to good account as a means of attracting insects, no one 

 has ever suggested any utility in the gorgeous colours of 

 the autumn woods. They are the outcome of very im- 

 portant physiological processes, but they are not them- 

 selves of use ; and the same is probably true of the reds 

 and other bright hues of many abyssal animals. 



Another general problem the most general of all is 

 raised by the fact that many Deep-Sea animals are quite 

 closely related to shore animals, with essentially the 



FIG. 32. Two Deep-Sea Fishes. 



L, Luminous organ. 



same functions discharged by essentially the same organs, 

 and yet under such different conditions of temperature and 

 pressure. Processes of digestive fermentation, for in- 

 stance, which go on in shore animals in the warmth of 

 the Tropics, are also going on on the floor of the Deep Sea 

 at a temperature near the freezing-point of fresh water. 

 We know that warmth up to a certain limit hastens growth ; 

 we should like to have facts in regard to the rate of 

 growth in the eternal winter of the Deep Sea. 



