The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1901-08-10


Dor themselves.
''When the storms and their earth
currents reach along the deep, far
ahead of their course" says Dr. Dunn,
"the fishes in the track, with their cleo
trio cells, catch the inspiration, and IN
stantly know whether it is a gale or
storm or a tempest which is coming,
and they act accordingly. The cells Of
the internal line are electrical instru-
ments pure and simple, whereby the
electrical knowledge is thrown INTO the
brain" Here, then, is q natures own
wireless biography, a natural electrl-
cal affinity more wonderful than any
science has created.
DR.. Dunn's observations are confined
to the fishes of the Cornwall coast ana
the contiguous British islands, ana
seem to have been as much in the in
terest Of the fisheries and fishermen of
that region as for the benefit of science,
but it is not unreasonable that ms con-
illusions should have analogous appll-
cation, and thus, for instance, that Hsn
in other waters should as well have tho
sense of hearing as fish in those partic-
ular waters. DIR. Edlnger doubts this
sense i'll fishes. and, with Stair, as
cribes its apparent presence to the IN
fluence Of the lateral line apparatus,
DR. Dunn says that the hearing or
fishes is acute, and cites a remarkable
instance in proof Of 1.-THE firing of the
nine o'clock citadel gun at Plymouth
when the excitement In the sea is in
tense, for all the surface feeding fishes
along the coast for miles will instantly
rush out of or along the water, making
a din to be remembered" 1t is the GUS
tom of the fishermen off Cornwall,
when the fish load the nets. and gather
in a mass in the bag of a net, making
its lifting impossible, to stamp noisily
on the matches. The CHATTER so fright
ems the fish that they instantly scatter
in all parts of the net and at can be
raised--evidence that the disturbance
was heard by them and that it
frightened them to flight.
A conger eel, which was the subject
of one of Dr. Edinger's experiments,
ate raw meat that was smeared With
iodoform, camphor and extract of an
chovies without hesitation; he cites 1t
as evidence to show that the fish had
no sense Of smell, or it would have re-
jected so malodorous a morsel mas
much as it refused to touch a piece OF
cooked meat that had been treated with
acid. Among old time eel or catfish
fishermen, anywhere in this country,
acceptance by the conger Of the iodo-
formed meat would have been convin-
cling evidence that 1t had it's sense OF
smell we'll developed and intact instead
of proof going to show the absence Of
it, for who among them ever doubted
the efficacy of a bob or other bait well
smeared with assafoetida to draw those
fish to their hooks-and wherein is To-
doforn, or camphor, or even extract OF
anchovies, superior to aasafoetida as
thing to be turned away from and left
to itself Yet the bait that exuded It.
or the one that possessed equally often
sive properties, as the dunghill worm or
the chunk of carrion-always drew ten
cells or catfish TO 1t to one that stopped
at the fresh meat or untreated angle
worm bait.
And the fact that the conger eel re-
fused the fresh meat treated with acid
should not have been held up as evil
dence that he could not smell, 1t rath-
err showed nice discrimination in that
sense--a drawing Of the line at pre-
served beef "Maclterel" Or. Dunn
says "are attracted by the sense Of
smell to the olive seaweed, and the oily
odor thrown OFF by the fatty larval
fehes"
friend of the writer owned trout
pond which was fed by a small stream.
One day he discovered the trout in the
pond all huddled together at It's lower
end, their heads turned down stream,
This was so unusual that the owner of
the pond would have been ut loss to
account for 1t If at the same time his
nose Rad not detected the offensive
odor of carrion. Investigating, he
found the body of a dog that had been
thrown into the creek and had fioated
down and lodged against the wire
screen at the head of the pond. The
offensive object was removed and In a
short time the trout began to move
about, and were soon swimming to all
parts Of the pond as usual. This
might be taken as pretty fair evidence
that trout, at least, among fishes have
the sense of smell; and if trout, why
not others?
DR.. Edinger also doubts the sense of
taste in fishes. DR.. Dunn declares that
this sense is we'll defined, MS Is shown
by the fact of their choosing some
foods and rejecting others. Few fishes,
except the cells and catfish, will accept
tai,ta5 food and many kinds will taxa
fresh dead food in their mouths but
gingerly at first, and will eject 1t some
times twice or thrice, the action of their
mouths after each ejectment seeming to
indicate that they are testing the taste
of It before deciding whether 1t will be
agreeable to them.
Live food however, Is never taken
with this hesitancy, but is seized with
rush and a sWoop for the fish Knows
1t is fresh and viii taste good. Or.
Dunn's observations warrant him in
declaring that fishes have not only the
sense of taste we'll defined, but tlnH the
facts frequently point to an educated
appetite. In the North Sea, for in
stance, the herring is most plentiful,
and through It's constant use its flavor
has impressed itself on the tate of fish
es living there. and it is used as bait
beyond all others by the fishermen. In
Cornish or Devon waters, for the same
class of fish, nothing equals pllchard
for bait, herring being only second or
third class with them all
A remarkable circumstance connect
ed with what DR.. Dunn calls peculiar
-.