Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1907-10-31
SENSITIVE TO SOUND
ACUTE POWERS OF HEARING WITH
WHICH FISH ARE ENDOWED.


startls Trout.
There are three phases Of sense in
fish particularly interesting to the an
gler-their exquisite powers of hearing.
of seeing and their subtle, abnormal
constituencies to atmospheric influence.
With all our experience and study II is
doubtful II we have arrived at any
thing Ike full estimate OF the acute
sensitiveness with which nsh are en-
lowed devote this article to hear
ing. By hearing l must obviously be
understood to mean their power Of sp-
preciating the vibration caused by
sound. the conductor being either solid,
aerial or liquid.
In man sound detonatss the eardrum.
and In that way when we are under
water we discover little irteligible
meaning from sounds. But the same
vibrations are undoubtedly received BY
the exquisitely sensitive hearing intel
hgence OF fish. II may use the
term, In different and far more i'm
pressive way. BY intelligence l mean
an instructive recognition By their
bodies of some disturbance. Just as
man recognizes passing breath OF air.
II takes the form OF feeling.
l came to the conclusion that l
would make few experiments. Here
are one or two facts: A friend entered
into 1t with me, and we bethought our
selves of certain we'll known trout in
our preserve which were ALWAYS
there" Then we placed matched hur-
dies 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 unsuspscting trout
through a small hole cut In the straw.
When one was not Mt home, the other
generally was. My friend undertook
the noise making. the observation.
From the sound OF q Runshot 500
yards away, which made our trout dis
hnctly start, to the breaking Of a tviR
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
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 net alarm
ed at cannot tell, but when they were
ahErnncd 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. gunshot behind
The hurdle and heavy stamp Of the
FOOT near by. 1t Is noteworthy that the
shrill sounds seemed to atartle them
most For instance, policeman'e whis-
tie at ten yards sent one out into the
stream as II 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 a very
pretty side movement, we'll known no
doubt 1t seems for the purpose OF
watching the bank at a better angle.
The common manner OF showing
their alarm was by q sudden culver.
sometimes followed by a sinking down
an inch or two, as much as to say.
What's upr' l very much doubt II
ever crept up 10 my Deephole without
being detected, and yet / was careful.
tor' II you notice. a trout once an the
dui vfve gives no sign Of alarm at a
second movement or netse. Once pre-
pared he Is immovable till he suddenly
darts OF. You may threw your great
coat at him. and he either braves It stoi-
Idly or bolts cleans away. Five minutes
perfect stiffness and they settle back to
eenadence. and then they were again
easily startled fancy the laws of re-
traction had something to DO with 1t
and that even from the sky they some
times perceived my movements. had
often suspected this before.
Another conclusion: I believe they
heard much they appeared not to. A
sudden smack Of the hands together,
ano there was q decided culver, but q
BIRD rattle. begun very softly and grad
ually brought up to its very leudsat,
and no notice seemed 10 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 II such an immedi-
ate transmitter Of vibrat ion to Ash that
they recognise sound frenn the air near
~ as quickly as man. 1t 10 NO arxu-
ment to say we do not when N 1t. We
have no need. Fish have. And be-
cause they have they are providentially
endowed with s1perssrEitiveneest to that
particular nervous inausnpe amoas
AfhAaa M