Wichita eagle., 1889-12-07
THE SENSES OF FISHES.
90 THEY THINK AND CAN THEY
TALK WITH EACH OTHERf

dSauC one.
1t is conceded by naturalists that certain
insects and many Of the lower animals hav.
the power of imparting mutual Intelligent,
by processes unknown to us The little ant
hobnobbing with each other, the cooling dov,
wooing its mate vocally, tho hen cluckins
her brood under protecting wings, are faznil
lar instances Of vocal intercourse among in
sects and birds; and no one who has watched
the minnows of shallow pool, or those in AZ
aquarium, has failed to see equally sure indi
cations that fishes have way Of their owr
in communicating with each other They
dart up to one another. put noses together
for a moment, and then dart OF again with
an air as much as to say. ''AIl right"
Old Aschylus, in one Of his poems. calls
fish 1.-THE voiceless daughters OF the unpol
luted one;;" but many of the ancients anu
moderns testify to the utterances Of fish
Phny, Ovid and others tell us Of the Scaru:
and its wonderful power Of intonation- In
the days Of Old Rome certain fsh were said
to have regular language. slow, sweet and
fascinating" and the Emperor Augustus pre-
tended to understand their very words We
have all heard, or beard Of. the various
sounds of the gurnards. of the booming OF
the drum Ash, the grunt Of the croaker,
weak fish and others. The grunt fish of the
Gulf of Mexico is said to express discomfort
and pain, and when touched with a knife
fairly shrieks, and when dying makes means
and sohs disagreeably human.
HEARING IN FISHES.
The scientists tell US that in many fishes
no trace exists of an organ Of hearing; that
the tympanum, its cavity, and the external
parts of tho ear, are entirely absent; that in
others this organ is only imperfectly devel-
oped and that in the remaining few, such as
the shark. the shad, herring and others. there
Is an odd connection between the organ of
hearing and the air bladder. With these
crude facts before him, the ichthyo3ogist
leaves the angler 60 work out the answer to
the question 'Can fish heart" which is a most
practical one to the careful angler in his pur-
suit Of the educated game fish Of our inland
waters We sum up briefly the conclusions
of an old black bass angler ON this subject
Fish hear no sound originating in the air.
Place a cannon upon an India-rubber
carriage, sufficiently large and elastic enough
to deaden, when fred, all conclusion upon
the ground, and Mr.. Fish, after the explosion,
will be as placid at his pool as q gourmand
after dinner
But, step as lightly as one may upon the
margin Of stream, and the fish will scatter
like shot from the shadows where they are
feeding or frolicking. The larger the fish
and the lesser the depth Of water, the greater
and wilder the scattering viii be.
Again, any conclusion originating In or
upon the bed Of the river, or below the fish,
does not appear to disturb them. This was
f7od nv
large bass which he saw lying motionless
within foot of the stake to which the camp
boat was tied. The water was about four
feet Deep He struck several successive hard
blows upon the top of the stake, which pro-
truded about two feet out of the water,
without causing firt of the fin in the fish
below.
Our angler at once concluded that the bass
could not hear the noise made by footsteps
upon the bed Of the river, when wading in
the stream, and, as the jolly fins could not
hear the conversation originating out Of the
water, anglers may indulge in social chat
and pleasantries whenever inclined, taking
care, however, to be always on the safe side,
by not becoming too boisterous In their dis
cussions or hilarity.
FISHES CAN SEE.
Anglers generally agree on the subject Of
the sense Of sight in fishes. A fish can see in
water, but not ont Of it
The shadow Of split bamboo rod thrown
across pool will create in fish the same
skittishness as would be caused by an ele-
plant browsing upon the bank.
A passing cloud over e shallow and pellucid
pool protects the angler and puts another I'm
or two in bis creel, where moment before
each cast of his drove the fish to deeper pools
or behind protecting rocks.
An old angling friend once said to me that
fish were like ostriches in some of their ways,
notably in that they seemed to feel safe when
their noses were hid behind tuft Of grass or
in the crevices Of sunken rock
"Fish facing the sun, and forget not this
rule even when the twilight is over the wa
tiers, by casting toward the west" was the
law enacted by bis knowledge, based upon
experience, of the eject Of shadows upon the
wary fins. who are more startled by unusual
appearances on the surface Of . pool than
they are by strange things below.
Vision and hearing in fish being the senses
most important to the angler in his water
sports, those next in value are smell and
taste The possession Of these by fish seems
to be disputed point. They have evidently
taste in . modified degree, as they will re-
ject the artificial lure if the barb Of the hook
is not immediately imbedded in their flesh,
but on the other hand, they will take leath-
er or rubber imitation Of the natural bait
with as much gusto as live minnow or bug
hence the question is a seesaw one
OF course, among angling naturais.s, the
gift Of the senses Is, or at least they think it
should be, confined to game fish, a. they can
not imagine any dispensatiou Of Providence
that places the ignohle catfish or the snaky
eel upon the same plane with the fsalmon,
trout and bass-W. c. Harris in Nature.