The Savannah morning news., 1904-06-26

crew. At first it was like the beating
of many drums in the distance and
then the sounds seemed to come from
the ship itself, near the poop. At first
the terrified crew thought that break
ers were at hand, and then that the
vessel had sprung a leak; but it was
soon discovered that the sounds were
produced by fishes.
Lieut.. White, IT, s. NJ, in the mar
rative of his voyage to the China Seas
in 1924. mentions similar experience.
At the mouth of a river in Cambodia
the ships company was alarmed by
remarkable noises around the bottom
of the vessel. "The sounds" he says,
were like a mixture of the bass of
the organ, the ringing of bells, the
cultural notes of a great frog, and
tones which the imagination might at
tribute to an enormous harp. The ship
seemed actually to tremble with the
vibration. Steadily the noises in
creased until they formed a chorus
around the entire vessel" Suisse
quently, as the ship sailed on, they
diminished and finally ceased. A ma
tive interpreter stated that they were
made by a kind of fish which chung to
objects with it's mouth.
Sir j. Emerson Tennent tells of a Wis
it he made to CeyIon in 1S4S, when he
water music at Batticalva. He was
rowed quietly to the spot by moon
light, where the sounds came up from
the water like the gentle thrills of a
musical chord or the faint vibrations
of wineglass when the rim is rubbed
with a moistened finger. 1t was not
one sustained note, but multitude of
tiny sounds. the sweetest treble min
gled with the lowest bass. The natives
eofd hof 10 hx a
shellfish at the bottom, which they call
ed the crying she'll"
Fishes are supposed to make these
noises for the purpose of attracting
their mates. IT is said that fishermen
often take fish during the spawning
season by initiating the sounds.
Formerly it was believed that fishes
could not hear. os they had no ears,
but anatomists have proved that they
external ones. AS water is denser than
air the sounds made in the latter 90
not penetrate the former readily, and,
unless they are sufficiently loud to pro-
duce well defined mechanical vfbra-
lions in the water, are not apt to be
heard by fishes unless they should hap
pen to be close to the surface. 1t Is
very probable that most of the fishes
cannot distinguish and appreciate diff
ferences of tone, as the higher animals
are enabled to do. There are nuner-
Gus well authenticated instances Of
fishes responding to noises in the air.
which would seem to indicate that GER
tain species have their hearing much
better developed than others.
Many ancient writers have described
the fishes love of music, and Rondo-
let, the famous naturalist. tells how
on one occasion he made a school of
shad dance to his fiddling.
1t is said that in Germany Clupea
f1nta delights in musical sounds. There
fore. when fishing the fishermen fasten
to the nets bows Of wood. to which are
suspended a number OF small bells,
which chime in harmony together on
the nets being moved. The FISH are
thought to be thus attracted to their
destruction and as long as the allur-
ing sounds continue they cease all eff
forts to escape. The same method Is
followed on the Danube river when
fishing for certain species.
The legend that they were caught in
Egypt by singing to them is not with
out it's FEASIBILITY. In Japan the
tame fish are summoned to dinner by
melodious gongs, while on the Dhol-
pore river, in India, they are called