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 



FiQ. 32. — Two Deep-Sea Kshes. l. Luminous organ. 



same functions discharged by essentially the same organs, 

 and yet imder such difEerent 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 thatVarmth up to a certain hmit hastens growth ; 

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

 growth in the eternal winter of the Deep Sea. 



