The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1878-12-27
Il FEWODB FISH
z1vxr euR1osIr1Es THAT wA4k.-oR-cIT>1B.

Mute as a fish, is not truespro-
Verb ell the world over, ami fish out
Of water Is not all the world over the
50 me IMAGE of -gasping helplessness.
The percIfwe know to be hairy fish
lie swiIns near the surface, leaps into
the air for flies, and can be carried
win Jut hurt in damp grass from pond
ID pond But how shall the European g.
tim of a handy perch cover the mar
.ious performances of some OF the
l.rches of the East Aristet4eis pupil,
Theophrastus, after treating Of a fish
called Exacaetus, that was in the habit
@ coming ashore to sleep, proceeded
. tell of the ssraH fishes ,that leave
rivers of India to wander like frogs
on the land aud OF others found near
j ,bylOn, which when the streams fail.
ave their dry bets and wandar oiT'in
search of foUd, ';GnUvii.s themselves
;lOng by means of their fins and their
fails"
Yarrell relates that cells host in q
4 den. when the time came at which
lr"y should 90 to the sea TO spawn,
/ # their pond, and were invariably
found moving eastward, in the dircc-
IN of the sea Anglers observe also
mat fish newly caught, when placed
out of sight of water, always struggle
toward it in their efforts to escape.
IN Birby's "Bridgewqter Treaties" we
read ola migratory fish called Swan
uiues, numerous in the fresh waters of
Carolina, and in ponds liable to become
dry II summer. When caught and
.,
always dil e tted themselves toward the
u are It water, though they cOald not
F.a IT. The DUras of Guiana have
ben caugh. upon their pilgrimage over
dry land in search Of water in such nU-
nerous companies that negroes have
died baskets with them. PallegoiX
Is of three kinds Of.fsk which ira
v.lse tie damp grass III Siam; and
s. John BOwT;ug says that in ascend
Iug and de cending the river Meiurm
to Bankok, he was amused with the
fg g 1t of fi,h-s which leaving the river,
-Lded over tire wet grass, and dtsaP
lear,d among the tr es Of the jungle.
The fishes who possess this power
generally have the .pEarvngeal bones
~ ich are at he back Of the mouth
aJolt the gull.t disposed in a laby-
lth of plates and cells, whereby mois-
Jure is retained for a long time, TO
clude slowly and keep the gilLs damp
The fullest account of the walking FISK,
q well as of the singing fish, to which
we shall pay some attention presently
given by Sir Emerson Tennent, i n
his work on Cevlon. Upon that eX-
Dllleut work therefore we draw again
fJr information.
The most famous walkeramong fish
IS OF Ceylch is perch, closely related
70 the climbing perch Df BIOLOGISTS
c..lIel by the Singhalese, Lavaya. 1t
about half Il foot long, with a round
scaly head and strongly toothed edges
TO its gill covers Helped bv the
moist labyrinth in its gulletbones this
li tie fellow boldly leaves his pool,
choosing to travel by night or in the
carly morning while the grass is damp
With dew hut sometimes he is to be
met with, in case of urgent necessity,
iravle;ng even along a hot and dusty
road under the midday sun.
In all these travelling fishes, the bong
column of spine is said to be remark
ably large They are not, in Ceylon,
pr.h a'ole. They were club that
Mr.. Morris, government agent of Trim
c)malia, saw on the falling of heavy
shower, after the dry season, struggle
up through the grass in the FiIIs form
ed by the trickling q cf!-ttile rain. There
-n6T1'tttty- Water enough to cover
them, nevertheless thev made rapid
progress up the slope Of knoll tha;
was surmountsd q 10y tank. A peE
can had lost no time in taking up hel
position Uy the pool, into which fist
we're swarminC. and two bushels o
them were collected by the follower:
of Mr. Morris. The same gentleman
tells how, when the tauk shrinks intC
little pools, the fish are to be seer
,.rowding by thousands in the grHeily
blue mud, and how, when The dryin.
uD advances, and the surface Ssh ar
left uncovered, they crawl away ii
search of water. "ln one place. j..
avs, II saw hundreds diverging i
every direction from the tank the
Lad Just abandoned, to = distance {
,ifty or sixty yarls, and still travelin
onward. In going this distance, how
CEOr, tn0y must nave uScQ lnuScuiS
cxertion sufficient 10 have taken thel
half n mile on level ground, for ;
tLese places all the cattle and vii
animals Of the neighborhOod had la
terly come to drink, so that the su
face was every where indented wit
foot marks, in addition to the craci
II the surrounding baked mud, in
which the fish tumbled in their pro
gress. In these holes. which we
deep, and the sides perpendicula
they remained to die, and were carri,
OF by kites and crows" They a
these fishes, or Others very like thel
who descend into the wet mud of dr.
ing pools, and when it is hard d-bakc
lie torped until the rains bring
turn Of water-a strange habit, viii
We have already described in speak,
generally of the animal life of Cey lc
Whether the walking fishes of Ceyl
deserve also the name of climbil
Oerch Is doubtful BevoLd the n