INVISIBLE RAYS

Evening Star, Issue 22458, 1 October 1936, Page 9

INVISIBLE RAYS

PIERCING THE OCEAN AN AMAZING EFFECT OK FISH Some twentieth century wizards have been catching lish with invisible rays, and they believe that the ultra-violet jamp has a great future in the fishing industry. One of them is Dr William Beebe, of the New York Zoological Society, who has been describing his deep-sea work near Burmuda. tie is the man who in 1934 descended in a diving glob© half a mile into the ocean deeps. He has been the leader of a tropical research expedition to explore deep-sea fauna. Nonsuch Island was their base, and they made an astonishing discovery while using an ultra-violet lamp to distinguish phosphorescent organisms. When watching how the eyes, teeth, and eye-pouches of certain species shine, and how the 10 tiny tail-lights of an eel with a huge mouth glow brilliantly when in contact with the ray, the scientists noticed the great radiating power of the lamp. A thin ray caused a piece of willeniite 1,300 ft away to give off light, and they then discovered its strange influence over creatures of the deep. _To attract more fish, such as herrings, anchovies, sardines, and other small fry, they hung an ordinary 250watt electric lamp with a tin reflector above the water on moonless nights. Deeper down they could see swarms of octopus and cuttlefish, and below them spiny fish and other strange creatures lurking for their prey. On one such night they put out the light and turned on the invisible ray, with a truly amazing effect. It was as if a wizard had cast a spell, for immediately all the try, which had been scattered in small groups in the illuminated zone, showed great excitement and shot through the water into the Sin cylinder of the invisible ray until they were packed like sardines.

There was the same result each time the experiment was made. If the ray was left on for some minutes they formd into strata with masses of big and little fish in separate layers, while the top part was filled with almost transparent larvae. When he spread a net under the sphere of light given out by the ordinary light Dr Beebe caught only two fish, but when he turned on the invisible rays for TiOscc he caught 400. These he placed in a bath tub, and by means of the rays moved them about at will in various directions. Wherever the ray moved the fish followed as if spellbound. Dr Beebe hopes to make another expedition with an ultra-violet lamp four times as strong. Not only does he expect to attract many rare specimens from the depths, but he hopes to prove that the invisible ray can be of immense assistance to the toilers of the deep.