The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1884-10-24
LIFE UNDER THE OCEAN.
wATc HING FISHES IN THEIR OWN
ELEMENT.
A Naturalist as IA Overflow Fishes
Swim-Th cir Domestic Life-WOn-
dcrfuI Shapes-The Pelican Fish.


scientific man who was overhauling a
curious-looking armor.
"Not exactly" was the reply. 'rm
repairing my diving armor have taken
up diving to study the habits of some
animals under water. have made fishes
rather speciality, and last fall it oc-
Cured to me as | was going South that
as the water was extremely clear | could
use a divers armOr to advantage, so |
got complete outfit and had very
good results. The water there is so
clear that you can see sixty or seventy
feet without any difficulty, and
for a number of years l have used
boat with glass bottom. |
bought small sloop that had a well
In her to hold fish, took out the
bottom and inserted several panes of
heavy glass, and there | had perfect
window in the bottom of the boat so
that even in the toughest weather |
could lie and look down through 1t,
and see the smallest objects on the
bottom, and SO make my collections.
By this means l made some valuable
finds of rare shells and corals, and
perhaps you know that there are num-
ing close up under the bottom; these l
could see and watch their motions.
Curiously enough, they did not appear
to see me, and | would watch their every
movement: but this only made me eager
to 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, and as l was
not going to visit any wrecks there was
no danger of breakage and | was perfect
ly safe. | made my first experiment on
the Florida reef.
Zone 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 | did not move, evil
IDENTITY taking me for an old wreck; and
when raised my arm they would dart
away for few moments, then suddenly
return, and were as curious as some peo-
pie, their great eyes staring, ever open,
presenting oftentimes ludicrous specta-
Gle. l 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 IA
supply of cray-tish bait that they are very
fond of, and in this way | often had
perfect school of fish lowering over me,
and SO could observe their every move
ment. Did you. ever watch a fish
in the waterl Take the common
sunfsh. AS it poises in mid-water you
will see the side or pectoral fins moving
in 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
fyingtish 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, "we've heard
of the fish out of the frying-pan, but
draw the line on their leaving the water. "
"Its no fish yarn, " replied the scientist,
with laugh "but actual fact, and, in
deed, have observed it myself"
SIN observations of this kind" 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 have been ly-
ing low, literally, with all these fishes
lowering over me, | have seen perform
ance5 that were exactly akin to our
games and sports When lot
of young fishes were about they
were continually engaged in
games of chase. Now one would dart,
and, followed by half a 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 nell
after it. One day saw two fishes, called
smclts, 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 of and then
repeat the operation You may call ii
what you like, but judging from our
standpoint | assumed that they were
kissing each other. They were certainly
not fighting, as | repeatedly saw encoun.
tiers, and they were always characterized
by rapidity of motion and display OF
temper natural to the occasion.
One of the most remarkable sights
that observed" continued the amateur
diver, "were the coral beds. From
boat they present nothing unusual
brown mass of pointed stems or bi anches
but one day | had the boat placed OF
the edge of channel, and gradually
walked down into it until attained the
bottom, in about thirty-fve or forty fee
of water and tell you the scene was i'm
pressiyc. | seemed to be in the street,
Of city. The bottom upon which stood
was pure white sand, hard and firm
and perfectly free of coral; but on eithe
side rose a perpendicular wall of tn,
branch coral nearly forty feet high, al
the points extending directly outward o
toward me, and presenting a magnifcen
unbroken surface of rich olive brown
hue.
Hidden and only noticed when tn
coral was broken away, were myriads o
sea eggs or Echni of all shapes anC
colors. Some were jet black with spine
like needles. Another kind had shor
Ill. ~