66 TROUT AND GRAYLING. 
to smell strongly of thyme when it is first caught. Some people, 
however, say that it smells of cucumber, while others declare that 
they are unable to detect any particular odour about it. 
It is supposed to have been introduced into England by the 
monks of olden times, who wanted a fish in their rivers that would 
be in season when salmon and trout were out of season, but this, 
to say the least of it, is doubtful, as grayling are very difficult fish 
to transport long distances, and it is much more probable that it 
was present in our rivers at a time when England, Scotland, and 
Ireland were all part of the European continent, for it is plentiful 
in many parts of Europe from Italy to Lapland. That the monks 
found it in the rivers and appreciated it as food there is very little 
doubt, for it is an exceedingly delicate flavoured fish. 
The nervous system of fishes is very small in proportion to the 
size of their bodies, and it is highly improbable that they know 
what thirst means, although it is a somewhat common expression 
to hear that so-and-so drinks like a fish. Dr. Day thinks they 
do not drink at all, but that the amount of water necessary for 
their use is absorbed through the skin ; and if this is not so, I don’t 
at all see how fish that live in salt water could assuage their thirst 
if it is at all like ours. 
It is generally supposed that the sense of taste is but very slightly 
developed in all kinds of fishes, and, about fifty years ago, a gentle- 
man named Ronalds, who was a keen sportsman and naturalist, 
and who wrote an exceedingly good book about the different flies 
that trout feed upon, made some very interesting experiments upon 
this and other points connected with trout. He made a small 
observatory in a favourable position on the banks of the river 
Blythe somewhere near Uttoxeter, from which he could watch the 
trout in the river without being seen by them, for they have 
extremely sharp eyes, and the moment they see a man they are off 
like a shot. Having procured a supply of ordinary house flies, and 
arming himself with a tin peashooter, he repaired to his observatory, 
and looking out saw a goud sized trout, which he knew well from 
its having a small white mark on its nose. He blew a fly through 
the peashooter to the trout, which, of course, promptly swallowed 
