54 ANGLERS' EVENINGS. 



under surface of the head, while the sides are spread out 

 into a large expanse of fin. A portion of food thrown 

 into the tank fell directly in the angle formed by the 

 junction of the glass front and the bottom. The fish, 

 which generally lay amongst the shingle, floated to the 

 food and endeavoured to seize it. This he was prevented 

 from doing by the position of his mouth and the proximity 

 of the food to the glass ; what I may call his snout pressed 

 against the glass so that the mouth could not arrive at 

 the food unless the snout passed through the glass. He 

 made several ineffectual attempts and then lay perfectly 

 still, as though thinking. Seeing that the creature was 

 hungry, and having no expectation that he would be able 

 to arrange matters without assistance, I was about to 

 instruct the attendant to change the position of the 

 morsel by means of a pole, when the fish saved me the 

 trouble. Raising himself in a slanting posture so that the 

 head inclined upwards and the mouth became visible, he 

 waved his fins as a duck does her wings when she comes 

 ashore, and thereby created a current in the water, which 

 lifted the food from its position and carried it with perfect 

 precision to his mouth. 



The more this incident, simple as it at first sight 

 appears, is thought about, the more remarkable it will 

 seem. It may be said that the action proceeded from 

 inherited instinct ; that some remote ancestor of the skate, 

 accidentally placed in a similar difficulty, accidentally 

 discovered the way out of it. But this would only remove 

 the problem farther back ; for the original skate must 

 have mentally noted cause and effect and have registered 



