GROWING THE LARGE TROUT. 203 



more positively made on the one side, or more flatly 

 denied on the other. Scott says, very decidedly, in 

 his Fishing in American Waters,* " Fishes hear ; of 

 this I feel quite sure," and quotes instances of fish 

 coming to be fed at the sound of a bell. Seth Green 

 says, in his Trout Culture,! that trout cannot hear, 

 and that " they will not stir a fraction of an inch at 

 the sound of a gun fired one foot above their heads." 



I will not say that trout cannot hear ; but this I will 

 say with the greatest positiveness, for I have tested it 

 repeatedly, that they are not frightened at noises, how- 

 ever loud, nor do they pay the slightest attention to 

 them. You may place your mouth directly over the 

 trout in a pond, and if they do not see you, you may 

 scream with all your might, or ring a bell as loud as 

 you please, and the trout will not move a fin to show 

 that they are either frightened or attracted, or that 

 they have in any way noticed it. You may even fire 

 a revolver, or, as Green says, a gun, very near them, 

 and if they do not see the flash or feel the concussion 

 they will not notice it any more than if they were 

 stone-deaf. 



On the other hand, if you are in the habit of calling 

 the trout with a bell to be fed, and have found that 

 they come at the ringing of it, go to the pond some 

 day at feeding time with the tongue taken out of the 

 bell, and shake it as usual. The trout will come 

 to be fed exactly the same, though not a sound is 

 made. 



* Fishing in American Waters, p. 38. 

 t Trout Culture, p. 58. 



