New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1902-03-05
ENSII1IVE TO SOUND

[SENSIII B TO SOUND b
ACUTE POWERS OF t1EARlNG WITH
NNtilcH FISH ARE ENDOWED.
Some InterestiaE Experiments That
Were Made to Detern.ai INST what
Manner Of Noises Of Motions Would
startle FRONT.
There are three phases of sense IN
fish particularly interesting to the an
Igler their exquisite powers Of hearing,
OF seeing and their subtle, abnormal
sensitiYeness to atmosph influence.
With all our experience and study it is
doubtful If we have arrived at any
thing like a full estimate Of the acute
constituencies with which fish are en-
lowed devote this article to hear
ing By hearing / must obviously be
understood to mean their power Of ap-'
preciating the vibration caused by
sound, the conductor being either. solid,
aerial or liquid. y
In mansound detonateA the eardrum,
land in that way when we are under
water we discover little intelligible
meaning from sounds. But the same
vibrations are und oubtedly received by:
the exquisitely sensitive hearing intel
lfgence Of q fish, II 4 may use the.
term, In 8 different and far more Inn
pressiYe way. By intelligence mean
an instructive recognition by their
bodies OF some disturbance, just as
man recognizes passing breath Of air.
It takes the form OF feeling. II
j came to the conclusion that i
would make few experiments. Here
are one or two facts: a friend entered
into 1t with me, and we bethought our
selves Of certain well known trout In
our preserve which were always.
there" Then we placed matched hur-l
dies day or two beforehand SO that.
the fish might get accustomed to them
In such way that we could approach
close to their haunts without being
seen and watch the unsuspecting trout
through small hole cut In the straw.
atv -
generally was. Ny friend undertook
the noise making, the observation.
From the sound Of a gunshot 500
yards away, which made our trout dis
tinctly start, to the breaking Of twig
three yards from the fish, which did
the same, we tried all kinds Of sounds.
shr1H and dull and at varying dis
tances, and the sum of our experiments
convinced us Of this: That our sensi-
lively organized friends felt the dis
placements Of molecules through ether,
which we call sound, and the further
vibrating disturbance through what we
call water, which verify believe con-
ducts sensation to the fish as readily
as glass permits the penetration Of
light to this paper. in proportion to the
distances and the character Of the
sound, but that they did hear, or feel
rather, and with incredible quickness,
too, was .conclusively demonstrated.
What they heard and were not alarm
ed at cannot tell, but when they were
alarmed it was evident enough by the
same kind Of start they give when their
chief enemy suddenly peeps over the
bank. In only two cases could I dis
cover actual fright, the fright that
sends them down gunshot behind
the hurdle and a heavy stamp OF tbs
foot near by. It is noteworthy that the
shrill sounds seemed to startle them
most. For instance, a policeman whis-
tie at ten yards sent one out into the
stream as If looking about for some
source Of danger, whereas a shout at
the same distance caused no detected
movement Their way Of shifting q
little farther from the bank when they
have: an inkling Of danger is very
pretty side movement, well known no
doubt. It seems for the purpose of
watching the bank at q better angle. =
The common manner of showing
their alarm was by sudden culver,
sometimes followed by sinking down
an inch or two, as much as to say,
Whats upY' livery much doubt II ]
ever crept up to my peephole without
being detected, and yet was careful,
for, If you notice, trout once on the
qui vive gives no sign Of alarm at q
second movement or noise. Once pre-
pared he is immovable till he suddenly
darts of. You may throw your great
coat at him, and he either braves it stol-
idly or bolts cleans away. Five minutes
perfect stiffness and they settle back to
confidence, and then they were again
easily startled. fancy the laws of re-
fraction had something to do with it
and that even from the sky they some
times perceived my movements. had
often suspected this before. ..S
Another conclusion: i believe they
heard much they appeared not to. a
sudden smack Of the hands together,
and there was decided culver, but q