The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1891-01-21
FISHES THAT HAVE VOICES.
some That Sing Concerts With q
Whole Orchestra of Musical Instru-
mpnfS

Vi the voices OF fishes, said q natura
q LIST to writer for the Star, "bu
n many of them do certainly produc
vocal sounds, as you yourself ma
s. have observed. Did you ever pull
y a hluetish into your boat and lister
II to his croaking complaintsS
d BUTT is not merely out of waite.
that many fishes vocalize. They d,
so IN their native element also, and
. often in concert. as If highly avprs.
r clating the really musical effect.
which they not intrequently produce
II you have ever been afloat In south.
: ern waters you may have heard biz
, jewish beneath the anchored vessel il
: the stiffness of the night go boom
ooom! monotonously. Under similar
) conditions the well.known 'grunters
; will give elaborate nocturnal perfor-
msnces, whole school OF them to-
gether, under the stern.
when the famous Humbolt visit.
ed the South seas in 1908, about
P. m , on Feb. 20, an extraordinary
noise startled the crew. At first il
was like the beating of many drums
In the distance, and then the sounds
seemed to come from the ship itself,
near the poop. To begin with, it was
imagined that the breakers we're at
hand, and then that the vessel had
sprung leak. The noises continued
for about two hours, and no one could
guess how TO account for them.
''In theinarrative Of his voyage to
the China seas, in 1924, Lieut..
White, U. 5. ~, mentions a similar
experience. AT the mouth of a river
in ambodia the ships company was
alarmed by the remarkable noises
around the bottom of the vessel. The
sounds, he says, were like a mixture
IF the bass OF the organ, the ringing
OF bells, the cultural notes OF great
frog, aud tones which the inlaeiha.
ton might attribute to an enormous
harp. The ship seemed actually to
Tremble with the vibration. Steadily
the noise increased until they formed
chorus around the entire vessel.
Subsequently, as the ship sailed on
theys diminished and finally ceosed.
A native interpreter stated that they
we're made by kind Of fishes which
chung to objects by their mouths.
visit he made to CeYlon in 1913, when
he went in boat to hear some famous
water music at Batticlava. He Kas
rowed quitely to the spot by moon
light, where the SQUADS came up from
the water like the gentle trills of as
musica chord or tho faint vibrations
Of a wine-glass when the rim is rub
bed with moistened finger. Ii was
not one substained note, but multi,
tude of tiny SQUADS, the sweetest tire.
BILE mingled with the lowest bass.
The natives said that the music was
made by shell fish at the bottom,
which they called the crystal she'll
at had been suggested that per-
haps such sweet and pleasing sounds
from the water gave rise to the myth
of the mermaids and sirens, the sal
lors old having the usual facility Of
mariners in the invention of pretty
and poeticaI causes for everything.
"A writer in Notes and Queries
says: 10 the early part Of December
| called upon Quaker gentleman at
Darlington, for whom waited in a
room in which stood a small aquari.
um containing, along with the usual
assortment of sea anemones, star fish,
etc, FIVE fishes not larger Ihan min
nows species OF blennles, was
subquently informed. After watch
ing their motions for a few minutes
us they foated near the surface OF the
water, | stopped down to examine
them more nearly, when To my utter
amszement, they simultaneC ulsy set up
II shrek OF terror loud and piercing.
think human being could hardly
have yet up IL much louder scream.
"At Caldera, in Chill, musical ca,
dences are frequently heard to issue
from the sea, rising and falling iully
our notes and resembling the tones
OF sharp strings mingling with great
delicacy aid sweetness. Out of 5000
kinds OF fishes in the world more than
300 are known to produce SQUADS.
The maigres are famous for the size
and complicated structure OF their ali
: bladders aud the large hollows il
, their skulls. These peculiarities may
, have ,mething to do with the loud
/ whistlings and hummings they pro-
L 4 l. I
important to DO with the sounds fishe.
4 make, though just what is hot certain
/ ly known. Some authorities thinI
k that the noises are made by expeliinl
Il air rom one compartment of the blad
der into another. Others believe tina
they are produced by the grinding t
d gelher OF the tooth-like bones in III