Living Silver 



most axiomatic, facts as the flight from the trawl. Most of what 

 was known about fish behaviour had been deduced from a study of 

 fish anatomy, accompanied by a very few observations on Hving 

 fish in shallow tanks. And these tanks were a very poor counter- 

 feit of the sea. There was never any guarantee that the fish did not 

 see through the forgery and act in a manner entirely different from 

 its natural habits. Yet it was amazing how much could be learned 

 from just looking at a fish and noting the details of its physical 



LEMON SOLE 



Structure. Jan read of the great American ichthyologist, Agassiz, 

 who initiated his course in vertebrate biology by putting a single 

 fish in front of each of his students and saying: 'Describe that.' 

 Half an hour later, a bright pupil would arrive with a full vn*itten 

 description. *Go back and look', would be the master's only 

 comment. Four hours later, the student would return, having 

 blotted out most of his original attempt and replaced it by an- 

 other, much longer description. 'Go back and look at the thing', 

 was Agassiz' invariable reply. After a couple of days of this, the 

 students would be convinced that their teacher was a bore. After 

 a week, they usually decided that they had a madman to deal with. 

 At the end of the third week, however, they began to discover an 

 interest in their task. By the end of a month they knew that they 



io6 



