92 BULLETIN 41, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSET^M. 



1889. GiKAKD, CiiAiJLKS— Contiimed. 



I should not succcod in obtaining a .specimen for you.' Another friend, to whom I wrote on 

 receiviuj; the above, tells me: 'The idea of the music heard here being produced by tish 

 never entered my brain until you wrote me about Mr. H. I am not fully prepared to oppose 

 the seuoritas who pronounce it a siren, and among whom it has caused no little sensation. 

 It is always near one place, and is never heard during the day. Ton must come down for a 

 personal examination, becavise, though I shall send you a bo.>f containing some of the small 

 tish caught in the bay, I have no intention to assert that a or the musical fish shall be among 

 them.' My friend sent fish according to promise, of which an account is given in the report 

 from Mr. Charles Girard. One of them he has named Alosa muaica from thi.s circumstance. 

 When I wrote again, only four months later, these charming aquatic serenaders had shut 

 »ip their orchestra, or gone else where." — [Gilliss's Exp. to South Hemisphere, vol. I, p. 270, 271.] 



According to all probabilities, says Dr. Girard, those musicians have taken a northerly 

 direction, having been heard near the equator by the engineer Outfroy de Thoron, who speaks 

 of them as follows : 



"Itwasintlie Bay of Paillon, surrounded with virgin forests, tliat I heard for the first 

 time the song of the fish musician. Already, while at Campana, much about it was told mo. 

 There were many of those fishes in the Mataje; thej' were heard at certain hours in the even- 

 ing and in certain quarters pointed out to me. But I attached no groat importance to the 

 subject at that moment, my conviction being that this animal was well known to naturalists, 

 so that as a more satisfaction of curiosity 1 awaited a favorable opportunity in going to hear 

 them. But as it sometimes hapi>ens that these fishes do not await obscurity for uttering 

 their 7nusic, a chance served me admirably on my return from Paillon to Campana. 



"On proceeding along a seacoast at sunset, a strange song, extremely grave and prolonged, 

 was suddenly heard about me. I first thought It to be a gnat or a bumblebee of an extraor- 

 dinary size, but perceiving nothing above or around me, I asked the oarsman of my pirogue 

 whence this noise came. 'Sir,' he answered, 'it is a fish which thus sings; some call these 

 fishes siren, and others musicians.' On progressing a little further I heard a multitude of 

 divers voices, harmonizing amongst themselves, imitating to perfection the sound of a church 

 organ. 



" The Bay of Paillon is not the sole locality where one may enjoy this phenomenon. It 

 occurs in several places, and even with greater power and evidence in the river Mataj6, 

 especially at the foot of a promontory called Campanilla. This river has two outlets upon 

 the Pacific Ocean and a third one into the baj' already named. By ascending it beyond Cam- 

 pana one reaches Campanilla, where the same phenomenon occurs. I was told that in the 

 River del Molina, an affluent of the Mataj6, the song ofthe.se fishes had likewise been heard. 

 It may not be uninteresting to know that these animals live in waters of different qualities, 

 since that of Paillon is salted, whilst that of the river does not mingle with the preceding except 

 at tide times. The fishes musicians execute their music without being troubled by your 

 presence, and this for several hours consecutively without exhibiting theniselvos near thc^ 

 .surface of the water, and the continuous vibration of their song produces an aerial sound. 

 One feels amazed that such a noise could ])roceed from an animal no more than 10 inches in 

 length. It is a fish, the exterior configuration, of which presents nothing peculiar,- its color is 

 white with some oluish spots along the back. Such is the fish which is taken by the hook on 

 the very places where the .song is uttered. It is towards sunset when the.se fishes begin to 

 make themselves heard, continuiiig their song during the night, imitating the grave ami 

 medial sounds of an organ, [Outfroy de Thoron, I'Amfirique equatoriale, 1866, 137-140.] 



The origin of the harmonious sounds heard in the bays of Caldera and Paillon deserve the 

 attention of the future explorers of the Pacific coast of South America. The magnitude of 

 the scene on which the phenomenon is displayed, the mystery which surrounds its mani- 

 festation, are such as to awaken general cariosity. 



189. 



1889. GiRAKD, Charles. Les Pois.sons Soutfrrainos dn Nord de I'Afriqnc 

 Le NattiraUste, Pari< 103-6, 1889. 



The De.sert of Sahara contains many wells of considerable magnitude Surrounding these 

 wells rich oa.ses have sprung up, sustaining a native population of some importance. But 

 what is most remarkable about the wells is the fact that they bring forth fi-om groat depths 

 living fishes, which, instead of being blind, as one would be led to suppose a priori, are pro- 

 vided with eyes as jierfcct as tho.se of fishes living in the rivers. The prevailing opinion is that 

 the fishes from the artesian wells are native of the water courses over the surface of tlie .soil 

 and have penetrated subsequently into the ground, whence they are brought up by the wells. 



