OF THE UNITED STATES 



77 



seas have thus been examined, and in all such life is found to be 

 present. These fishes normally never come to the surface, and 

 when forcibly brought up in a trawl, they are visibly affected in a 

 number of ways. Some become greatly inflated by the expansion 

 of the gnses within them, and where they possess scales of any 

 size, these are elevated all over the fish's body. Some of these 

 deep-sea forms are found to be blind; a number are semi-trans- 

 parent; others have peculiar phosphorescent organs on the head; 

 while nearly every one is extremely peculiar in form, great vari- 

 ance is seen to obtain with them (but this has no relation to 

 either latitude or temperature) ; and in the case of not a few their 

 geographical ranges are very wide — the same species occurring 

 in many parts of the world. Notwithstanding that this is true, 

 some of these deep-sea fishes are very rare. I have in mind at 

 least one instance at the present writing where but a single in- 



Fig. 14. The Torchfish {Linopkryne, lucifer). 



Drawn by the Author. 



dividual of a certain species has fallen into the hands of science. 

 This was taken years ago by my friend, the distinguished Cuban 

 naturalist, Don Felipe Poey (1ST2), and sixteen years afterward 

 I published an illustrated account of it — giving a figure of the 

 fish and a description of its skeleton. During all that time no 

 other specimen had been obtained, and so far as I am at present 

 aware, none haA r e been secured since the appearance of my 

 memoir. 



The " Torchfish," of which I give a figure above, is one of the 

 most remarkable types that has thus far been captured. From 

 its nose there stands erect upon a stem a small organ, elliptical 

 in form and phosphorescent in function, which the fish has the 

 power of making very luminous or the reverse, at its pleasure. 

 The Torchfish also has an elongated and slender filament swing- 



