NERVOUS SYSTEM, SENSES, AND SENSE ORGANS 203 



satisfactory, and sometimes electrocuted the fishes. Nowadays, 

 however, by the use of a transformer and a particular voltage, 

 a shock is produced sufficient to paralyse the fish temporarily 

 without doing any permanent harm. As a general rule, it has 

 been found that fish swimming in the neighbourhood of a 

 radio screen have a sense of the direction of the danger, and 

 attempt to steer away from the obstacle before coming within 

 range of its effects. 



The much debated question as to whether or no fishes feel 

 pain may well be considered here. The angler will always 

 answer it with an indignant denial, and it must be admitted 

 that his experiences with rod and line provide some evidence 

 for his belief. It is well known that Trout or Pike, whose 

 mouths have been torn and lacerated by a hook, but which 

 have succeeded in getting away before being brought to the 

 landing net, have returned and taken a tempting bait almost 

 immediately afterwards. There is also the classical story of 

 the Perch hooked in the eye, which necessitated removing the 

 organ from its socket before returning its owner to the water. 

 The angler then baited his hook with the eye, and no sooner did 

 his line reach the water than the bait was swallowed by the 

 identical fish, which thus enjoyed the unique distinction of 

 being caught with its own eye! 



It would seem as though some fishes are much less sensitive 

 than others, or at least that they lose their sensitiveness to pain 

 under the stress of some emotional excitement. The Greenland 

 Shark (Somniosus) , when feeding on the carcase of a whale, is 

 said to allow itself to be stabbed repeatedly in the head without 

 abandoning its prey, and two Conger Eels in the act of 

 copulation have been so insensible to other external impressions 

 that they have been lifted together from the water by the hand. 

 The great difficulty in deciding whether or not under normal 

 conditions fishes feel pain lies in the fact that it is only possible 

 to judge the matter by our own standards. We are quite certain 

 that a barbed hook lodged in our own throat would cause us 

 intense agony, but it is tolerably certain that a fish, with its 

 comparatively lowly organised brain, does not feel anything 

 nearly as acute. At the same time, the fact that all fishes 

 possess an elaborate system of nerves and sense organs suggests 

 that they must at times experience feelings of this nature, 

 although it is impossible to obtain any definite information as 

 to the extent of their suflferings. 



Another sense, if it may be described as such, which is highly 



