THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 555 



use of an electric tuning fork giving a certain number of vibrations 

 per second, which was phiced against a board end of the aquarium in 

 whicli the tish were being tested. 



On the other hand, most lish "appear to be unaffected 1)y loud talk- 

 ing or other like noises originating in the air" (Parker, 1903, p. 45), 

 due undoubted!}" to the fact that the ordinarj- sound waves produced 

 in the air are transmitted to the water to a very slight extent at most. 

 Several years earlier Kreidl (1896) had performed certain experiments 

 on trout in the tish basins of the Benedictine Monaster}^ at Krems, 

 Austria, where the lish were called up to be fed at the ringing of a 

 bell. He found that the fish appeared just the same if a person went 

 to the customary place without ringing the bell, and that no amount 

 of bell ringing w^ould bring them if the person remained out of sight. 

 On this account Kreidl concluded that fish could not hear at all. That 

 sight is the important factor in the assembling of gold-fish to be fed 

 was suggested by Seeley (1886) some ten years before, though he 

 credited them with the ability to hear as well. He says (p. 112): 



Their sense of sound is sufficiently acute to obey a familiar call. The Chinese are 

 said to assemble them in ponds at feeding-time in this way; but in ponds where vis- 

 itors feed them in Europe they presumably detect the newcomer by sight; for w^e 

 have noticed that a gathering never fails to greet visitors on their appearance at pub- 

 lic gardens in which these fishes are exhibited. 



From all this it appears that while fishermen, when desiring not to 

 frighten the fish, need to be careful not to make disturbances which 

 are transmitted directh^ to the water, such as splashing, or jarring a 

 boat or similar object partially submerged, they need have little fear 

 of talking; while, convcrseh", shouting probably has as little effect in 

 helping to drive the fish, when that is the result desired. This fact 

 will probably be received with satisfaction by those anglers who 

 btelieved it necessary, but found it onerous, to maintain a sphinxlike 

 silence while trying to outwit their finny prey. 



TASTE AND SMELL. 



As a matter of convenience these senses will be considered together. 

 Of the two in fi.shes the former is much the better understood. 

 Herrick (1903) has recently made an important contribution to the 

 subject, besides giving an excellent review of tlie literature. It has 

 long been known that carp have sense organs, known as "terminal 

 buds,'' over the whole surface of the body and on the barbels, similar 

 to those which occur abundantly in the mouth, and to which the sense 

 of taste has rightly been assigned. Direct physiological experiments 

 have not been made on carp, but from his experiments on a large 

 series of other fishes Herrick concludes (p. 260) that — 



It may be regarded as established that fishes which possess terminal buds in the 

 outer skin taste by means of these organs and habitually find their food by their 

 means, while fishes which lack these organs in the skin have the sense of taste con- 

 fined to the mouth. 



