The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-04-15
CHANGE COLOR QUICKLY.
Marvellous Transformations OF Some FisheS
and Other Cold BIooded AnimaIs

Marvellous Transformations OF Some Fishss
and Other Cold BIooded Animals.
The place was q small, sandy-bot-
| toned pool, near the border of harbor
of Long Island sound. The tide was
flowing gently in and filing the pool.
was standing on q bridge which
crossed the pool watching the little
fishes, crabs, etc, that were enjoying
themselves in the clear water when
saw q hatfish coming, and he was
so much larger than any of the other
animals about him that he at once at
tracted my attention. Flatfish swim.
commonly, close along the bottom, and
that was the way this one came. When
he was almost directly below me he
stopped and lay still. He looked so
tempting that 1 determined to catch
him if 1 could do so. 1 reached out
gently to get my net which was lying
close at hand. In doing it my eyes
were for an instant and only
an instant turned from the fish, and
when I looked back no fatfish was to
be seen; he had disappeared as quickly
as that.
1 was sure he had not had time t.
dart away, and be out of sight, nor did
/ need to think of that, for had seen
the same thing done before. 1 knew
that he ley just where I had last seen
him, and was of course in plain sight
of me, and yet 1 could not see him. /
saw, however, two black round spots,
which were his eyes, and stood per-
fectly still to watch him, for knew
that In a little time he would come
into sight again
What he had done was this-he had
been frightened by the movement of
my hand, and ON the instant all his
colors had disappeared. One second
before he had been of a fine dark
brown, with darker spots over his
body; now, all was gone, and he looked
precisely like the sand on which he
lay. He had put away his rich colors
of his own will, and he could take them
again when he chose, as 1 presently
saw. I stood perfectly still to watch
what he would do. OF course I cannot
tell just how long it was, but judge
il was not over two minutes before
could see slight change, just enough
for me to know which was fish and
which was sand. He grew gradually
darker as bis fear of me grew less. and
In about five minutes, without having
moved at all, there lay the fatfish as
beautifully dark and spotted as when
be SWAIN TO the place
This power of changing color is very
been able to fully explain it. We have
ourselves no such power, but many Of
the "cold-blooded" animals have. You
have read stories about the chamele-
on and its changes, because the lizard
which is so named has been known for
msny hundreds of years, but in truth
many of our common fishes, etc, can
change their color much more quickly
and sharply than the chameleon can.
will tell you how you can see il for
yourself. Put any little fsh-say a
minnow or a trout, or a sunfsh- into
. goblet of clear water and set IL IN a
dark place for time. When you look
at it your fish will be of his common,
dark colors. Set him out now in
bright light, near window, the
brighter the better, except that you
may keep him out Of the direct rays of
the sun, for fear that the heat might
kill him. No change will come imme-
diately, but in an hour or two look for
your fish and you will find that you can
scarcely see him. his colors have SD
completely faded eway. 1t is well to
say that goldfish show these changes
but slrhflx-Detroit Free Press.