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The thick air-tube supplying the light-producing sheet increases the flow of air and the light is intensified; the same tube, swayed by the animal's will, slackens or even suspends the passage of air and the light grows fainter or even goes out. It is, in short, the mechanism of a lamp which is regulated by the access of air to the wick. Excitement can set the attendant air-duct in motion.

The fishes, which have a fully-developed floating bladder, can press it together, and thus condense the air it contains. The air also escapes sometimes from the alimentary canal, through an air-duct that connects the floating bladder with the pharynx, and is ejected by the mouth. This lessens the size of the bladder, and so the fish becomes heavier and sinks.

The thick tube supplying the light-producing sheet increases the flow of air and the light is intensified; the same air-tube, swayed by the animal's will, slackens or even suspends the passage of air and the light grows fainter or even goes out. It is, in short, the mechanism of a lamp which is regulated by the access of air to the wick. Excitement can set the attendant air-duct in motion.

When it wishes to rise again, the bladder is expanded by relaxing the pressure. This hydrostatic apparatus begins in the Dipneusts to change into a respiratory organ; the blood-vessels in the wall of the bladder now no longer merely secrete air themselves, but also take in fresh air through the air-duct. This process reaches its full development in the Amphibia.