The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1884-11-26
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NltklnK ACOltcCllOn lOF lne UluStul1f ~
asked Cincinnati Enquirer writer Of q
scientific man who was oyerhauling q
curious-looking armor.
''Not exactly, was the reply. 'Tm
repairing my diving armor. / have taken
up diving to study the habits of some
animals under water. have made fshcs
rather a speciality, and last fall II oc-
Cured to me as | was going South that
as the water was extremely clear | could
use a divers armor to advantage, 30
got a complete outfit and had very
good results. The water there is ~
clear that you can see sixty or seventy
feet without any difficulty, and
for number of years have used
q boat with glass bottom. !
bought small sloop that had we'll
in her to hold FISH, took out the
bottom and inserted several panes Of
heavy glass, and there l had q perfect
window in the bottom Of the boat SO
that even in the toughest weather /
could lie and look down through It,
and see the smallest objects on the
bottom, and so make my collections.
BY this means / made some valuable
finds OF rare shells and corals, aud
perhaps you know that there are num-
bers Of small fish that follow boats, keep
ing close up under the bottom; these !
could see and watch their motions.
Curiously enough, they did not appear
TO see mo, and would watch their every
movement: but this only made me eager
70 get nearer view, and so began to
think Of the divers armor, and bought
this and had the helmet altered so that
could see perfectly well, aud as / was
not going to visit any wrecks there wss
no danger of breakage and was perfect
ly safe. / made my first experiment on
the Florida reef.
.sOnc of the most remarkable features
Of this life under water is the fact that
the fishes were not afraid of me, but
swan about when I did not move, evil
IDENTIFY taking me for an old wreck; and
when raised my arm they would dart
away Tor few moments, then suddenly
return, and were as curious as some peo-
pie, their great eyes staring, ever open,
presenting oftentimes ludicrous specta-
Gle. | have even had fishes rub up
against my armor, as you often see them
against the bottom, probably to rid
themselves of some obnoxious parasite.
The way made my observations of fish
and their movements was to recline upon
the bottom among the coral and have a
supply of cray-fsh bait that they are very
fond Of, and in this way | often had a
perfect school of fish lowering over me,
and so could observe their every move
ment. Did you ever watch fish
In the water2 Take the common
suntsh. AS it poises in mid water you
will see the side or pectoral fms moving
In a kind of side motion, just the same
movement that you intuitively try to
make with your hands when you try to
tread water or keep yourself motion
less; in short, the pectoral fins are the
arms of the fish, its fore limbs. In the
hying-fsh the arm-fns are wings; in
some of the sculpins there are regular
fingers by which the fish crawls over the
bottom; in the Periapthalmus they are
used to walk on dry land" ''Hold on,
professor" cried listener, Twelve heard
of the fish out of the frying-pan, but
draw the line on their leaving the water. u
''It's no fish yarn, " replied the scientist,
with laugh, "but actual fact, and, in
ACCNAf \ nave OOSCINcQ IL
SIN observations of this kind, y con-
tinued the speaker, ''you notice things
that can not even be seen in a good
aquarium, as there the fish are under
certain restraint. While l have been ly-
ing low, literally, with all these fishes
lowering over me, have seen perform
ancos that were exactly akin to our
games and sports When a lot
of young fishes were about they
were continually engaged in
games OF chase. Now one would dart,
and, followed by half q dozen others,
the pursued lodging here and there be-
hind bits of coral until some other fish in
turn seemed to attract attention. and
the entire crowd would rush pell-mell
after it. One day saw two fishes, called
smelts, approach each other in a solemn
way, open their mouths as wide as pos
sible until their lips met. Then they
would slowly draw or back off and then
repeat the operation. You may call it
what you like, but judging from our
standpoint l assumed that they were
kissing each other. They were certainly
not fighting, as l repeatedly saw encoun-
ters, and they were always characterized
by rapidity of motion and display oi
temper natural to the occasion.
"One of the most remarkable sights
that observed, n continued the amateur
diver "were the coral beds. From q
boat they present nothing unusual-a
brown mass of pointed stems or branches
but one day l had the boat placed on
the edge of a channel, and gradually
walked down into it until attained the
bottom, in about thirty y-fve or forty feet
Of water, and I tell you the scene was i'm
pressive. seemed to be in the streets
Of city. The bottom upon which stood
was pure white sand, hard and firm,
and perfectly free of coral; but on eithel
aide rose a perpendicular wall of the
branch coral nearly forty feet high, all
the points extending directly outward OF
toward me, and presenting a magnificent
unbroken surface of a rich olive brown