TOWER, PRODUCTION OF SOUND IN CERTAIN FISHES 159 



it has occurred that the fishermen, guided by their noises alone, have taken 

 twenty scioence at a single throw of the net." The fishermen assure us 

 that the noise of the scmnce is suflSciently loud to be heard through twenty 

 fathoms (120 feet) of water, and that they are careful from time to time to 

 place their ears over the edges of the boat, that they may be directed by the 

 noise. Some say that it is a dull humming sound ; others that it is a rather 

 sharp hissing. Some fishermen contend that the males alone make this 

 noise in spawning time, and that it is possible to take them by imitating it 

 and without employing any bait. That these fishes do produce noises 

 that can be heard long distances is an undisputed fact. 



The fish of this family best known to us is the "weak-fish," described 

 by Dr. Mitchill under the name of Labnis squeteague. It was known by 

 the Narragansett Indians as the squeteague; and by the French of New 

 Orleans as the trout. The fishermen of Cuvier's time "attributed to it 

 certain dull sounds similar to that of a dnun, which are heard sometimes 

 under the water and only in the season Avhen it is abundant." 



Another sound-producing fish of American waters which is described 

 by Cuvier is the drum {Pogonias croviis). Cuvier states that "various 

 accounts are given concerning the nature of the noise of these drums." 

 According to Dr. Mitchill, it is when they are taken out of the water that 

 they send forth this noise, but Schoepf says that "it is under the water 

 that this noise is dull and hollow; that several individuals assemble around 

 the keel of ships at anchor, and that then their noise is most sensible and 

 continuous." This agrees with the report made by Lieut. John White, 

 U. S. N., in 1824, in which he describes how his crew and himself, while 

 at the mouth of the river Cambodia, were astonished by some extraordi- 

 nary sounds which were heard around the bottom of the boat. It was 

 like a mixture of the bass of the organ, the sound of bells, the guttural 

 cries of a large frog and the tones which imagination might attribute to an 

 enormous harp; one might have said that the vessel trembled with it. 

 These noises increased, and finally formed a imiversal chorus over the en- 

 tire length of the vessel and the two sides. The natives told Lieutenant 

 White that the noises were produced by a troop of fishes. M. Humboldt 

 describes a similar phenomenon in the South Sea on February 20th, 1803. 

 Towards seven in the morning, he says, the whole crew were awakened by 

 this extraordinary noise, which resembled drums beating the air. It was 

 afterwards learned that the noise was produced by one of these sciffinoids. 

 Cuvier, in speaking of the same species, states that, "it would be an object 

 of curious research to find out the organs in these fishes which seem to pro- 

 duce such strong and such continuous sounds, and that at the bottom of 

 the water and without any communication with the external air. Most 



