The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1874-08-20
The Language Of Fishes.

Q
the incoming of the grand old sea. Its
voice comes to us in muff1ed notes, as il
trying to burst from itself, now with a
huge roar and again dying away up the
long line of white sand in d low, murmur
ing sigh, which seems to say goOd-by
until it's fellow comes laundering on,
bringing new tidings from the dark, un-
fathomcd caves" and throwing its tears
of spray at your feet But these are not
the only sounds that come up from the
sea- Musical notes are often heard that
in oldcn time were credited to the
:" sirens harp They come to US in low
sweet tones, burdencd with hidden
meaning, swelling on each rise, and
finally bursting from the deep in chorus
of rich sounds and harmonies
These peculiar marine screnades were
for years regarded with superstitious awe
by the toilers of the sea- BY some they
were taken as signs of good luck, and by
others, of the old school and Marryatt
class, as the songs of the vast crews of
the dead who roamed the sea in their
phantom crafts that appeared to their
living comrades at dark moments and in
weird form, an ominous fOrebOding of
speedy ill-fortune And so these strange
notes were traced to different origins,
until some curious individual threw the
blame of all the disturbances upon the
fish family. and then it became known
that they, having mouths, spoke after
their fashion, and SO our sirens and mcr-
maids passed away. Their fair forms
are no longer seen reclining on the messy
shore. Their sweet voices have been
superseded by the croak of the unoffend-
ing Pisces, and the wcll-known lines
In CULTS enchanted where the siren sings,
And coral reefs lie bare,
have lost their romance. Alas, for the
advance of time, as with every throb our
old and well-loved legends slip away,
and disappear in the dim distance of the
past.
A noted fishy vocalist is found in the
Anecent Scarus, which was noted for the
powers of its vocal organs. Pliny en-
balmcd it in verse as the king of fishes,
and Ovid and Ossan have also sung it's
praise in song. Selcucus stated, with all
good faith, that it was the only fish that
ever slept, and ELAN bestowed upon il
the honor of being the best beloved by
its fellows. Wonderful tales are told Of
its powers Of information, and, although it
was in great demand for the table, the
men were 10th TO take it in consequence
of the walls and means it gave vent TO
whencapturcd. At other times, when
free, its voice rose from the sea clear as
a bell, and ravishing in the sweetness of
It's melody.
The well-known gurnards arc noted far
and wide for the strange sounds they pro-
ducc, and as yet the peculiar mechanism
has not been clearly demonstrated. At
times the sound is not unpleasant, and
ut others it resembles the barking of a
dog or the grating of two rough sub.
stances. This may be the case in some
species, but have held fish found in
the Southern waters, and similar to our
perch, in my hand, and listened to the
sounds, and they seemed to be produced
ny movement Of the jaws or throat, as
the lips and mouth protrudcd at every
sound they uttered, but it is not unlikely
that they arc produced by grinding the
teeth with a quick motion in irving to
escape. On the Jersey coast the P,iou-
otus piintus is called the pig or hog fish,
on account of its continual barking as II
is drawn in by the net; and in almost
every section of the country we find
these localisms all tending to represent
the vocal tastes of the finny population
In the days of old Rome the murenas.
or sea cells, were supposed to have a reg
ular language, Low and sweet" saws an
old writer, and with an information so
fascinating that few could resist it's in.
fiucnce,' and it is said that the Emperor
Augustus pretended to understand their
words. 1t is well known, however. that
he did devote much Of his time 10 The
cultivation of these creatures not for ;
hypothesis of language, but because thew
were highly esteemed in a gastronomic
point of view. In fact, so far was this
carried that some epicures would only
cat those that had been fattened On
human flesh.
Strange sounds are often heard also
arising from the waters of our own
coasts that would be apt to astonish the
supcrstitious listener if he were not ar.
quainted with the unoffending cause Of
all the disturbance. Sometimes it rises
into the air like the bang of huge drum,
and again seems to steal over the waves
like low, murmuring wall; and if YOU
were to place your ear close to the sur.
face the strange sounds would appear to
come from five or six different places
Seamen are often startled by the "boom,
boom" that seems to steal over the YES
sci, seeming to their ears more like the |
drum of some long-lost crew than the |
voice of some Insignificant member OF |
the family of fishes. For such it is, and
well known as the bearded drum-fish.
But how it produces the queer musical
notes is something that would be well
for our Fish Commission" to discover
this summer on the Sound.
Still another faithful satellite is found
In the noisy maigre. It makes strange
cooling moan, accompanied by sharp
croak that can be heard at a depth of
loo feet. The fish attains q length of
ABOUT SIX feet and weighs forty pounds.
what these sounds are for we know not,
cu' on the principle that all things are
,ol some particular purpose they must
nav meaning. That the imperfect
w. y ene hsh is used to express dis
con'ent and pain | have no doubt a. n
numerous experiments on q fish found =
the Gulf Of Mexico, called tho ernn. =
found that the voice was used and modu
lated as with other animals VIZ.
touched with the knife the srants n !. !,
gave vent to'fairly rose to ! shr;eI 80
when dying its means and sobs were 81
most disagreeabiy human. ssva-oY
shall never forget the first one ~
these ,veritable porkers that ca.xht
Thinking that my bait needed replenish-
ing, ! hauled in and found nicely
hooked . grunt, and no sooner had / |
placed him in the boat than he COM
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