National opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1865-1874, 1872-08-30
Clever Fish.

There IL scarcely a weapon of otfense
in use among men, which has not its
parallel among the hHny tribe. Daggers,
spears. swords. and even guns are all
possessed by fishes in high state of ma
tural perfection. The nose of the chm
todon,a native of the Elsteru seas, forms
kind of beak through which it propels
n small drop of water with considerable
force and accuracy of aim. Near the
edge of the water sits fly on spray o'
wood, IA twie or tuft of grass. The
chetodon advances cautiously under the
fly, stealthily projects his tube from the
water, takes deadly aim, and pop goes
the watery bullet. The poor insect who
has come to the end of his I" little day of
sunny bliss" is knocked over by the
treacherous missile, and drops from its
perch into the waters below to be smoked
in by the voracious chetodon. Other
fishes who do not shoot their game. fish
for it with rod and line. The lophius,
for instance, has two long teA tacles
springing out of his nose. to the end of
which is attached, by n line or slender
filament, small, glIttering morsel Of
membrane which serves as bait. Huge
sacks, like bag nets, are attached to its
gill covers in which it slows its prey.
the hooks are set in the mouth of the
fisherman down below. Just as the an
gler stirs up the mud of the river to at
tract gudgeons, the lophius stirs up the
mud with his fins and tail. Then he
plies his rod, and the glittering bait
waves to and fro like living insect
| ,,l All, tb ,n,t.rI ha tn,I,tl Tho
gudgeons, or rather gobies rush towards
it and are caught in the bag net, to be
transferred to the stomach of the
monster fish, as soon as there are enough
collected to form n satisfactory mouth
full. Some sporting fish hunt their prey
singly; some in couples; some in packs,
like hounds. The pike and trout hunt
singly, running down smaller fish, as
the greyhound courses hare. The I'M
happy victim turns from side to side in
its efforts to escape, while its pursuer
bends and turns to every motion, follow
ing close upon his track, and cutting off
his retreat. Other fish as the bonito,
chase their prey like dogs CT wolves, in
packs. The tiercest of these is the black
saw bellied salmon of South America.
Inc Jaws OF tlllS ISL are so slTOUP tlul
they can bite off mans finger or toe
They attack fish of ten times their own
weight, and devour all but the head.
Some fish employ other fish to hunt up
their food fol them, as we use pointers
and settlers. the little pilot fish leads
the huge shark to his prey. Besides tie
shooting apparatus referred to, some tish
have the sword as weapon of offense.
The xiphius possesses blade no less
potent than Damascus steel. This wea-
pom will pierce through the bottom of n
ship though it probably would not make
much progress with an iron-clad. The
saw-fish has long snout set upon each
sioe with sharp spikes like the teeth of a
shark forming weapon OF terrible
power. The narwhal carries spear on
one side of his nose, formed of the hard
est ivory, and gradually tapering to a
point. OF daggers there are many spe'
cimens. All of them fearful weapons,
often cerrated or barbed, and capable of
infictlng deadly, lacerated wounds.