Miscellaneous. 203 



subject to the will of the fish. I have recently had the opportunity 

 of observing some fresh-caught Scopeli. 



On the night of October 18, 1881, when near the Cape of Good 

 Hope (in lat. 35° 45' south, long. V2° 30' east), the net brought in a 

 small ScojJelus*, which was unfortunately dead. It could not have 

 been in the net for more than a few minutes ; but a very short 

 delay in hauling in appears sufficient to kill these animals ; and, in 

 fact, in order to obtain them alive it would be necessary to examine 

 the net every five minutes. The individual I caught was about 

 two inches in length, and possessed the characteristic pearly bodies 

 on the sides of the head and body ; in addition, there were seven 

 other considerably larger pearly organs arranged along the dorsal 

 border of the body close to the caudal fin. No luminosity was ex- 

 hibited by these organs ; nor did irritation excite its displaj'. I 

 examined the larger of these bodies, those from the dorsal border, 

 and found them to vary in diameter from -g- L to j-}^ of an inch. 

 Each consisted of a limiting membrane investing a dense mass of 

 granular and nuclear matter, which was ejected with some degree 

 of force when the membrane was ruptured. 

 The form of the organ is shown in the 

 accompanying rough sketch : from its poste- 

 rior or flattened surface springs a fine net- l ■ ' 

 work of tubes or vessels freely anastomosing, 

 and varying in size from ., „\j ^ to yJ^j^- of ^ .^ 

 an inch across. The same granular mate- -^^ 

 rial filled these tubes ; but it was somewhat i^,, f ' 

 diffluent, and in one of the organs I ex- ^^l' ,j 

 amined there was a decided flow of the con- 



tents of the tube for a short period, though ll^'W>i!K.."\ 



it may have been due to the pressure of p^^^^^ ^^,^^^ ^^,^^ ^ 

 the covering-glass. I was not able to trace 6'coi)('li(s\eLken off the 

 the mode of origin of these tubes with ex- Cape of Good Hope, 

 actitude ; and I should also observe that. Size of the tubes ^oVir to 

 under the microscope, muscular tissue was ts'oo inchj size of or- 

 generally to be noticed amongst the sub- gan to(J to i^i^ mch. 

 stances adhering to the detached organ ; but whether it had any- 

 particular relation to the pearly organ or was simply brought up 

 with the deeper tissues, I was unable to determine. 



On the night of November 7, 1881, in about the same locality 

 (lat. 35° 17' south, long. 17° 43' east), two Scopeli were caught at 

 night, one dead and the other gasping ; both of them were of the 

 same size as the former specimen I obtained; but they were desti- 

 tute of the large dorsal pearly bodies which I have described. The 

 dead one evinced no luminosity ; nor did it exhibit any on irrita- 

 tion ; but the one that had some life remaining displayed a faint 

 though an undoubted luminosity in the pearly bodies of the pectoral 

 region, which were larger than those which were situated on other 



* This specimen appears to me to he the same as that depicted in the 

 * Study of Fishes ' (Scopelus boops). 



