The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-03-25

body, and. wonder of wonders, we see 1t
seize a fish five times it's own bulk and
draw itself over II like a glove. Its jaws.
by a special arrangement. separate, and
the mouth Is a cavern of ndia-rubber-like
possibilities. A similar fish. malacosteus.
IS of a rich black velvet hue, and as 1t
poises we see upon its head two large
lights. One emits a golden light. the other
throws out ftful green rays, which have
some hidden meaning in the economy OF
nature. Some OF the fishes seem to be
literal mouths. Such is the eurypharnyx.
or pelican FISH. The mouth is enormous,
the bones of the jaw being attached TO the
skull by movable joints, so that it has enor-
nous powers of distension.
a curious black fish called echiostoma
has its lanterns arranged about its head;
two are just below the eyes. while there
are several others at various portions of
the head. At a depth of two miles we find
the fish bythites. and at three miles we
shall find others more remarkable. A hid
eous snakelike creature is stomias, with
pointed teeth and a row of lights along Its
ventraI surface, like the lights that are
seen in a dark night in the car window as
the train dashes along. This fish has been
taken from a mile and a quarter beneath
the surface by an English dredger.
Beneath our feet are forms equally
weird, the bottom blazing with light at
every step. Here are phosphorescent
crabs, and seafans that emit golden, green
and lilac hues. Blue scintillations come
from seapens, while others give out CLEANS
Of gold and green. Almost every animal is
a lightgiver. Some Of the crabs are phos-
phorescent over the entire surface; others
have their lights on talke eyes. while the
very mud that rises seems to scintiIlate
with light that would appear to be an es-
sential feature OF the deep sea. We might
in this walk of the imagination descend
TO a depth of six miles beneath the sea and
sdIl find life.
WONDERS THAT ARE HIDDEN.
In all probability the largest and most
remarkable fishes have not been seen and
escape the dredge. Many of these strange
forms of the abysmal depths are types of
kline forms and we can only imagine
wonders the deep sea hides. In the
Atlantic and Pacific gigantic squids from
fifty TO seventy feet in length are found,
and glimpses of strange snake or eeI-Iike
sharks are suggestive of the uncaught
mysteries and unseen jewellers in the deep
sea- Among the curious light-givers is a
shark which was caught by DIR. Bennett.
It was perfectly black, but emitted a
strange phosphorescent light which re-
manned some time after the animals death.
The shark was placed in a jar In the cabin
of the vessel and is described as presenting
a ghostly appearance, emitting a rich
green light almost sufficient to read by.
In descending into the intermediate
depths the jellyfishes and forms that live
I'm the open water attract our attention.
Here Is a jellyfish, its disk six feet across,
its train of tentacles possibly emitting a
vivid light and stretching away i'm a maze
of brilliant lines for perhaps one hundred
feet Such is the Cyanea, one of about this
dimension being seen by Mrs. Agassiz off
Nahant- Such a jellyfish moving through
the upper depths of the ocean, cleaning
with its peculiar and unexpIainable light.
might we'll be compared TO a great comet.
Other forms-huge disks are the moons
and lesser planets of this submarine world
o. space. The variety of tints and colors
emitted by the jelly fishes is almost beyond
comprehension. and so diverse are the
lights that the belief is forced upon the
beholder thai they have some marked sig
nifcance in the economy OF nature. One
known as Lucernaria emits a pale blush
light all over its surface. Obelia has a
luminous stem alone. Cestus, or the GirdIe
of Venus. has a yellow light. Idyia emits
roseate hues. while the light of Aurelia is
of such a brilliant yellow that when one of
the animals was squeezed into a glass of
mill The Ia&&.. -
that a letter was read by it.
From these instances, and they are but
few in many, it is evident that the stroller
through the ocean, either in the moderate
depths at night or the abysmal realms of
day, would not wander about blindly, but
would have his pathway illumined by lights
effective and brilliant, rendering the deep
est ocean a region the opposite of condi-
tons of stygian darkness that 1t is erro-
neously supposed to hold.
Pasadena. Cal