FISH POSSESSED OF LITTLE SENSIBILITY. 1 1 



see no more harm in capturing them by skill 

 and ingenuity with an artificial fly, than in 

 pulling them out of the water by main force 

 with the net; and in general when taken by 

 the common fishermen, fish are permitted to 

 die slowly, and to suffer in the air, from the 

 want of their natural element ; whereas, every 

 good angler, as soon as his fish is landed, 

 either destroys his life immediately, if he is 

 wanted for food, or returns him into the 

 water. 



Phys. — But do you think nothing of the 

 torture of the hook, and the fear of capture, 

 and the misery of struggling against the 

 powerful rod? 



Hal. — I have already admitted the danger 

 of analysing, too closely, the moral character 

 of any of our field sports ; yet I think it can- 

 not be doubted that the nervous system of 

 fish, and cold blooded animals in general, is 

 less sensitive than that of warm blooded ani- 

 mals. The hook usually is fixed in the car- 

 tilaginous part of the mouth, where there are 

 no nerves ; and a proof that the sufferings 

 of a hooked fish cannot be great is found in 



