The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-12-30

the Professor teIephoned me that he
was about to try his first experiment
with the ingenious contrivances for imi-
tating the sounds of fishes.
A MoURNFUL NOTE
The reddish was supposed to be an
ally of the drumfish, and Kollicher Sc
1ected a wooden instrument that uttered
when manipulated grooming murmur;
this he handed to me. BY carefully dis
tributing the bait the big fish and sew
eral others rose higher and higher. and
were soon opposite our faces, when tho
Professor turned the great receiver di-
rectly at the fish. while I turned the
lever of the talking machine. We could
not hear, of course, whether the sound
was discernible, and it was an anxious
moment; but suddenly we noticed the
fishes start, roll up their eyes in
mournful way and turn away; then one
returned.
Keep it up, shouted the Professor,
and / could hear the ectasy in his voice
as turned the lever again. The fishes
now approached the receiver, which was
a mirror, and they saw what they sup
posed were fishes of their kind, and
then we saw their mouths open and
numeuDus bubbles ascend to the surface.
I'VE have it, said my companion;
"they are replying" But to me the
rolling of the eyes suggested anguish
We could not test the monograph into
which the fish had spoken until we
assembled. The fish continued to come.
and l now noticed that many strange
forms were climbing the rock and the
bars of the cage, attracted by the meat
of a dozen crawfish. Great crabs crawled
slowly along. The whips of cragfish
waved to and fro. and the tentacles of
a big octopus came insinuatingly up and
around the bars, followed by the un-
canny body. A long slender head now
protruded through the bars, and my
companion called to me that it was an
eel, and to try the machine that imi-
tated the sound of the eel. did SO,
and the snake-like fish stopped at once.
raised itself a foot or more, looked di-
rectly at the receiver. and as it heard
the sounds rolled it's eyes with melan-
choly expression and struck the glass
violently. I had evidently said some
thing that displeased the fish and it's
reply would undoubtedly be found in
the photograph. Half a dozen different
saunders were tried, and all attracted
the attention of the fishes. Some were
repealed and darted away; others looked
amazed and tried to enter the receiver,
while many more were evidently aston
ished and remained poised before it, but
all rolled their eyes*as if in despair.
While we were watching this and
other manifestations the fish suddenly
disappeared and a huge hammerhead
shark sailed slowly around us. / seized
the imitation of the Eastern dogfish-a
small shark and sounded it. The big
fish darted ahead as il struck then
turned and circled around, watching us
arranging the camera. / turned on the
light and snapped the shutter just as
the brute passed Then the small fry,
from the flying fish up, came back, and
suddenly Jewish. The nearest imita-
ton we had to Jewish was a long
cultural croak, which stopped the mon
ster in its tracks. and as long as
played the instrument it moved to and
fro. and on one of its passages the Pro-
fessor photographed it. If ever a fish
wept this one did.
We had now been down three hours,
and, having remained as quiet as possi-
BILE, our cage had become covered with
strange creatures. Moreover. we were
anxious to test the photograph, so we
called to the men at the pumps above to
lift.
The readers curiosity is naturally ex-
cited to know what the photograph re-
vealed of piscatorial talk. Here my mar
rative must prove disappointment.
The instrument returned the sounds
with perfect distinctness and Professor
Kollicher was able to translate them
clearly. Unfortunately, however they
all related to family matters, which he
assured me it would be breach of con-
fidence for him to repeat. We are 60
ing to take the instrument to the Faral-
ZONES, which. from their vicinity to San
Francisco, are likely to be visited by
fish of a more versatile tyne