254 THE SENSE-ORGANS AND PEECEPTTON OE FISHES. 



perhaps a record of my experiences may be useful to tliose wlio 

 intend to go on witli the subject. 



(1) This would no doubt give the most complete solution of the 

 whole difficulty. I made some preliminary experiments with ex- 

 traction by ether, and found that both from Nereis and from 

 herrings after the ether had been distilled oif, an oily fluid remained, 

 which certainly attracted recklings most powerfully, and caused 

 them to snap at stones dijoped in it. That obtained from herring 

 also brought the conger out of their holes, but they did not show 

 the eagerness that they do when seeking actual food. 



Mr. Bourne has prepared a remarkable fluid by simple distil- 

 lation of squid and water. This has a strong smell resembling 

 that of cooked squid, and has stood for over a year without 

 decomposition. It did not appear, however, that the fish noticed it 

 at all. 



By adding spirit very gradually day by day to mashed squid 

 mixed with sea water which was kept warm, a good deal of the scent 

 was extracted, and when the conger were very hungry a few c.c. 

 of this extract poured into the tank sufficed to put them into a state 

 of great excitement ; they would seize rags which had been dipped 

 in it, but I did not succeed in compounding it with any substance 

 which they cared to eat. These results, though incomplete, are so 

 far fairly encouraging. 



(2) Many attempts were made to incorporate finely divided squid 

 with gelatine. It seemed possible that if gelatine into which mashed 

 squid had been stirred whilst warm and liquid, could be cast into sheets 

 and dried, it might perhaps retain its flavour sufficiently to be eaten 

 on being again softened with water. Consistency was given to these 

 sheets of gelatine by stretching a sheet of butter-cloth in them when 

 warm. When the conger were very hungry they would eat this sub- 

 stance with hesitation, and in the sea I caught an occasional fish 

 (rockling and conger) with it, but it was by no means satisfactory, 

 probably because each particle of squid was so coated with gelatine 

 that its scent could not get out. 



The next experiment was made by pouring melted gelatine into 

 dishes smeared with mashed squid or mackerel, and then laying 

 sheets of tissue-paper similarly smeared on the upper surface of the 

 gelatine before it had set. When the gelatine was cold the paper 

 was stripped off, and the gelatine remained covered on each side 

 with a thin smearing of fish. The fish in the tanks ate this sub- 

 stance when fresh as readily as ordinary food, but it is unsuited to 

 the purposes of fishing in deep water, as the coating of fish is washed 

 off, and no doubt soon loses its scent. Probably the difficulty arising 

 from the fact that the scent is soon destroyed on the surface of the 



