52 The Life Story of the Fish 



How is it that we can catch a twenty-pound salmon on a 

 leader of only five pounds' breaking strength? We all know 

 that it is because, as long as our fish is in the water, prac- 

 tically all of that twenty pounds is supported by the water. 

 If he tries to use his muscular energy to bring a greater 



Figure 9. FROGFISH 



From David Starr Jordan, FisheSy by permission of D. Appleton-Century 



Company. 



strain on the tackle, we let him run, and when he is finally 

 brought to the shore, we do not try to lift him out of the 

 water by means of that leader, but use a gaff or a net. 



Most of us never stop to think what this means to the 

 fish in terms of efficiency, of economy of effort. We our- 

 selves are engaged in a constant struggle with the force of 

 gravity. When we go upstairs or climb a hill, we have to 

 lift our whole weight. Even when we walk along the level, 

 every step we take means lifting that weight a fraction of a 

 foot and letting it down again. And when we fall, we come 

 down with a teeth-rattling crash that seems totally out 



