The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1902-03-04
SENSITIVE TO SOUND
ACUTE POWERS OF HEARING WITH
WHICH FISH ARE ENDOWED.

WHICH FISH ARE ENDOWED.
Some Interesting Experiments That
Were Made to Determine just What
Manner of Noises or Motions Would
StartIe Trout.
fish particularly interesting to the an
gler-their exquisite powers of hearing,
of seeing and their subtle, abnormal
sensitiveness to atmospheric influence.
With all our experience and study it il
doubtful if we have arrived at any
thing like a full estimate of the acute
constituencies with which fish are en-
fng. 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.
In man sound detonates the eardrum,
and in that way when we are under
water we discover little ineligible
meaning from sounds. But the same
vibrations are undoubtedly received by
the exquisitely sensitive hearing intel
Egence of a fish, if / may use the
term, in a different and far more i'm
pressive way. By intelligence mean
an instructive recognition by their
bodies of some disturbance, Just as
man recognizes a passing breath of air.
1t takes the form of feeling.
came to the conclusion that I
would make few experiments. Here
are one or two facts: A friend entered
into it with me, and we bethought our
selves of certain well known trout in
our preserve which were always
there" Then we placed matched hur-
dies a day or two beforehand SO that
the fish might get accustomed to them
in such a way that we could approach
close to their haunts without being
seen and watch the unsuspecting trout
through small hole cut in the straw
When one was not at home, the other
generally was. My 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,
shrill 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 dis
cover actual fright, the fright that
sends them down-a gunshot behind
the hurdle and a heavy stamp of the
foot near by. 1t is noteworthy that the
shrill sounds seemed to startle them
most. For instance, policeman's 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 a
little farther from the bank when they
have an inkling of danger is very
pretty side movement, well known no
doubt. 1t seems for the purpose Of
watching the bank at better angle.
The common manner of showing
their alarm was by a sudden culver,
sometimes followed by a sinking down
an inch or two, as much as to say,
whats upY l very much doubt if
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
second movement or noise. Once pre-
pared he is immovable till he suddenly
darts off. 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.
| Another conclusion: / believe they
heard much they appeared not to. A
sudden smack of the hands together,
and there was decided culver, but a
bird rattle, begun very softly and grad
ually brought up to its very loudest,
and no notice seemed to be taken. But
doubtless, like ourselves. however loud
the noise, the gradient robs it of its
startle. However fanciful it may
sound, of this / am thoroughly con-
vinced-that water is such an immedi-
ate transmitter of vibration to fish that
they recognize sound from the air near
ly as quickly as man. 1t is no argu-
ment to say we do not when in it. We
have no need. Fish have. And be-
cause they have they are providentially
endowed with supersensitivenesst to that
particular nervous influence among
others.--London Field.