Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-01-03

about which some remarkable stori 8 are
told. Prof. Baird, in one of his reports, re-
fers to the noises made by these fishes when
the men were hauling them in, and not
few sailors have been alarmed by the un-
usual sounds Some years ago vessel an.
chored off the New Jersey shore, and at
night the men were astonished at hearing
peculiar sounds, apparently coming from
all about them. Some of the sailors who
were very superstitious thought there was
something wrong about the vessel, but the
captain proved that the singular noises
were occasioned by drum fishes. Sir j ohm
Richardson states that when off the coast OF
Carolina he was prevented sleeping by the
noise made by these fishes According to
some observer, the fishes produce the sounds
by striking the tails against the bottom OF
the vessel, while others think it is caused
by clapping their teeth together.
Many of the sounds, produced by fishes
In various ways, are undoubtedly involun-
tary. AS suggested, some are caused by
the pneumatic duct and swimming bladder,
while others are produced by the lips or
the pharyngeal or Intermediary bones.
The swimming bladder of fishes of the
genus Trigla and Zeus has diaphragm and
muscles for opening and closing it, and
probably produces the low murmuring sound
heard In these fishes.
The sea-Horse Can Talk.
The attractive and curious little sea-horse,
or hippocampus, produces low sounds which
are supposed to be due to the vibration of
certain small voluntary muscles. The cat
fish also makes a gentle humming sound,
while the chub-sucker utters single sound,
followed by discharge of air bubbles.
Aristotle mentions a fish by the name of
Choirois, or pig, as inhabiting river in the
Mediterranean, and as being one of the fishes
that have the power of producing sound.
During a visit to the north coast of Ceylon,
Sir Emerson Tennent heard wonderful ac-
counts of musical sounds that were said to
proceed from the bottom of lake, and while
upon the lake one calm night he distinctly
heard the sounds, which, he says, came up
from the water like the gentle thrills of a
musical chord, or the faint vibrations of a
wine glass when its rim is rubbed by wet
finger. 1t was not one sustained note, but
number of tiny sounds, each clear and dis
tinct in ITSELF
The sound of bell, occasionally heard
from the depths of the Mediterranean Sea,
is thought by some to be due to the corvo,
or crawfsh, of the Italians, though others
attribute the curious sounds to shelly mol
lusks.
Music in the China Seas.
Lieutenant John White. an English
officer, states that during voyage to China,
when his vessel was anchored at the mouth
of the River Camboya, the sailors were
greatly astonished to hear curious sounds
issuing from the water which were de-
scribed as resembling the bass of an organ,
the changing of bells, and the twanging of
gigantic harp. The sounds, which continued
for number of hours and swelled into
chorus on both sides of the ship, were at
tributed by the interpreter to school of
fish in the vicinity.
Baron Won Humboldt has recorded a
similar occurrence in the South Sea. Early
in the evening the sailors were greatly dis
turbed and terrified by noise like the
beating of tambourines, followed by sounds
resembling the escape of air from boiling
liquid, which apparently came from the
ship. These extraordinary sounds, caused
by school of fish, lasted for ten hours.
1t is difficult to determine whether fishes
have vocal communication; but nearly 100
species have been heard to utter audible
sounds when out of the water, this un-
doubtedly being small proportion of the
fnny sound producers. c. f. HOLDER.