New-York tribune., 1901-09-09
HAWAIIAN FISHES.
BRILLIANT HUED SPECIES BEING PAINTED
FOR THE NATIONAL FISH COMMISSION

FOR THE NATIONAL FISH COMMISSION
From The Honolulu Evening Bulletin.
c. b. Hudson. the artist, here with the Fish Com
board some most charming portraits. His models,
like Trby. pose for the altogether. He paints the
the many hued specimens from the piscatOrial
world, captured by patient natives, whose knowl-
their services indispensable the success of the
and Stanford University. These specimens are not
mSckerel or uet net nor nor are rney naP4 i OF S9uI9
picked up by experts in the shady holes outside
1t would seem a simple matter to secure basket
full of brilliant cOlored fish at the market pick out
the best specimens and then MI IN the colors upon
the Pencilled design N But VI Hudson s doesn't work
says furthermore than the color proposition in
tropical fish of paradise IS a psychological not a
Hudson's studio is an interesting den 1t is not
in an attic nor under a eucalyptus tree. he Is
seaward from the Moana Hotel He has before
poses his models They are as shy as the most
innocent perfection that ever exposed her charms
to the eye of master artist for the first time They
scindllate color from auiyering nm: evanescent
tints radiate from flmy tails. One of these psca-
tortal gems from the deeper waters OF Hawaii
looked like il might have been made by jewel
Jewels have eyes that and hearts that beat and
become afraid. This bright particular jewel had
deepest. purest blue, He would cavort about in his
htte gaSs Jali 10 tne G@spaE e OF IN 69e Sr5sI VINO
cat laying for a mouse.
You know. these tropical little peacocks OF the
down his brush and turning naturalist. Il can
scamp equal TO tnat shown by the FIRE dancer at
the circus l will first show how little six inch
ash fights or attempts to scare away an enemy bs.
a flash of startling colors-' So saying, Hudson
rubbed the of the glass tank with hts hand.
producing light vibrations Seeming danger Nh
Fish stiffened his fin. and. so far as color goes.
altered his appearance to that Of hideous Chinese
dragon. Dark purple spots alternated with fiery
of the little hsh TO look bad quite comical as
clever four-year-od assuming the gait of BOwery
tough.
'Now see how ne acts when afraid said the
artist, and he plunged pine stick into water. tap
quit his bluff and is a turncoat" The purple
changed a sand hue, the red became mother of
''Snce he failed to BLUM his enemy. he seeks to
elude him by becoming invisible And the lustre
painter tried to bury himself in the two inches OF
sand upon the bottom OF his prison
hsh. But after all II is purely physiological The
color material Is deposited in glands which are
S9heraGted or eTpanue9 as tne nSn may nay Ghoose,
the little that hold his bluffns cOlOrs, send
ing the green, red and yellow spraying through his
cuticle- When the biun falls he withdraws the
pyrotechnic hues TO his color bags, and. as rear
Ike corpse as possible. he plunges to temporary
Mr.. Hudson finds it very difficult to keep sensi-
tive hsh In mood long enough 70 transfer its
especial mood 10 the canvas. lie finishes about one
a week. He says there Il no creature In nature
that gives such astonishing combinations o. color
as the bottom fishes OF the tropics Nearly an o0t-
fishes have the power of changing color
a will They furnish colors which often tax an
blue, the perfect yellow and the vermion shades
the most difficult to attain
The pictures painted by Mr.. Hudson viii belong
10 the United states Fish Commission and Will be
printed in coIoIs IN the published report q, the
expedition viii he made TO Congress early in tho
coming session with the hope az srcustug intcrest
for prosecutins the study OF Hawaiian hshes on a
much larger scale The work OF The exPediti9n5 5rS 50
varieties. many OF which sre good for tocd