100 LIVING LIGHTS. 



dark when I first saw it shining in the net, it resembled a 

 Pyrosoma, emitting, as it did, a bright phosphorescent light. 

 This was in latitude 2° 15' south, longitude 163° west. The 

 length of my specimen was five inches and a half. It is not 

 a little singular that my brother, the late D. F. Bennett, 

 obtained a specimen of this fish in the same latitude, and 

 another in latitude 55° north, longitude 110° west. The 

 first was taken in the dp,ytime, and was ten inches in length, 

 — much larger in size than my specimen. The second was 

 taken at night, and its entire length was a foot and a half : 

 both were alive when captured, and fought fiercely with 

 their jaws, tearing the net in several places. On placing my 

 fish in sea-water, and observing it in the dark cabin, it 

 swam about for some time, emitting a bright phosphoric 

 light ; and when this had become so faint as to be almost 

 imperceptible, it was readily rekindled on the animal being 

 disturbed or excited. My specimen was of a perfectly black 

 color, and died about four hours after it had been taken. 

 The luminosity was retained for some hours after life was 

 extinct. 



" The form of the shark, as indeed its whole structure, is 

 peculiar. It no doubt belongs to the subgenus Scymnus. My 

 specimen having been accidentally lost, I am unable to give a 

 minute description of it. My brother was more fortunate. 

 I will, therefore, give his account of so novel and interesting 

 a fish. The body is cylindrical, rather slender, and tapers 

 finely towards the tail. Its prevailing color is dusky brown; 

 a broad black band, or collar, passes around the throat ; and 

 the fins are partially margined with white (my specimen, 

 being small and young, varied in this respect, being black, 

 with the fins of a less intensity of color) ; the skin rough, 



