102 STUDIES IN INSECT LIFE, ETC. 



ocean bed we have spoken of the things we should 

 " see " ; but in reality we should see nothing at 

 all unless we were gifted with the power of seeing 

 in the uttermost darkness. At the bottom of the 

 Atlantic a darkness prevails with which the 

 blackest night on land would seem comparatively 

 twilight. No ray of sun or moon can pierce 

 through anything like 2,000 fathoms of water, 

 and the only light ever seen at these great depths 

 is due to the phosphorescence of certain of the 

 deep-sea organisms. How far this phosphor- 

 escence is visible is still a matter about which we 

 want more knowledge. We know that these 

 luminiferous organs vary immensely in com- 

 plexity and in power. Many of the lower light- 

 givers (Invertebrates) secrete a luminous mucus 

 or slime, but others, especially the fish, have 

 very highly organised luminiferous organs as 

 complex as eyes, and these are segmentally situate, 

 so that in walking across the ocean bed we should 

 from time to time see a blurred glare at our feet, 

 like an ineffective lamp in a London fog, and 

 from time to time a fish would pass gleaming from 

 prow to stern with rows of lights like a miniature 

 liner with her port-holes all aglow. 

 The poet has told us that 



