The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1894-12-15
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HOW ANIMALS TALK.
Remarkable Language Methods of Beasts, Birds, etc.
DESCRIBED BY PROF. CHAs. F. HOLDER.

on the edge of a coral reef, where the
rich green of the coral heads rapidly
gave way to the blue water of the
channel, when ! hooked and brought
up "a fish about eight inches in
length, of an old-gold color, marked
with scarlet lines and touches-a
most attractive little creature. AS l
took it in my hand to remove the
hook. l was attracted by its eyes,
which were lustrous with yellow and
red tints. but especially as they
seemed to roll up at me in a suppli-
eating way. Then it began to@stalk
with me, after the fashion of its
kind, uttering at first plaintive
grunt, then a series of croaks which
seemed to rise in infection then die
away gradually. Then it would
croak, almost bark, until finally /
tossed the fish back into its native
element, fairly conquered by the
sounds it uttered, amid the laughter
and possibly scorn of my companion,
who was too professional to be in
fuenced by the croaks of 'grunt."
The little fish was member of a
large family (Haemulon) in that vi
cinity, nearly all of whom were grunt-
ers and croakers if not takers, and
remarkable for the variety of sounds
they produced.
A large number of fishes utter
sounds. | have heard the common
dog fish utter curious sounds that
have been construed into bark. The
eel makes low croak which is said
to be musical. The little sea horse
utters single note so far as known,
while the gizzard shad is "talker,"
but none of these equal the little
Haemulon, that grunted and barked
its way to liberty in the Mexican
Gulf.
The sounds made by fishes are ut
tered in various ways, and many l
think are involuntary. Some are
made by the action of the pneumatic
duct and swimming bladder, while in
other fishes the lips and inter maxil-
larry bones have something to do
with the sound. In fishes of the ge-
nus Zens and Trigia there is a low
murmuring sound produced by the
swimming bladder, which has an
opening and closing diaphragm. The
cat fish utters sounds by forcing air
from the swimming bladder into the
vesophagus. In the sea horse re-
ferred to the note is produced by the
vibrations of small voluntary MUS
cles.
The loudest sound producer is the
drum fish, which in some way utters
drumming notes that have alarmed
seafarers off the New Jersey coast.
In China, on one occasion, a sound
was heard by the officers and crew of
an English man of war, coming up
from the water like the twanging of
a great harp and was referred to a
school of fishes.
Sound travels very slowly under
water, and with difficulty. I remem-
Der once diving with companion,
each holding two stones, which we
knocked together in turn, and at five
feet distance l could not hear the
sound made bymy companion.
1 believe nearly all animals have a
language or method of communication
though not always vocal. The sensory
organs of fishes are we'll developed. and
they can track each other by scent when
out of sight. In the deep sea the phos-
phorescent lights of fishes are signals
which may have some significance in
communication. Some fishes have two
or more lights of different coIors. like a
steamboat or ship. This is true of the
malacostens niger. On one side it has a
golden light, on the other the light is
green.
The ordinary domestic fowl affords
the most positive evidence of the posses
sion of language that is understood.
There are many decidedly different calls,
which il taken down in monograph and
repeated in hen house or yard would
produce interesting results. need but
mention a few calls to illustrate the
range of the sounds in the domestic
fowl. On warm day. when hens are
released from their coop. when their
minds are undisturbed and all nature
looks bright and inviting, they sing as
they feed-a continuous repetition Of
kerr-kerr kerr, with various modulations.
The rooster never utters it, nor the
mother hen, it is the song of the happy
go-lucky OF hen creation.
Now let hawk appear in the sky, or
any disturbing element, an entirely Diff
ferent sound is heard. The hen stops,
stretches her head upward, and with
the cock utters decided note of warn.
ing in a high falsetto, k a-r-r-r-r.e And
il the enemy still comes on it is repeat