FOURTH INTERNATIONAL FISHERY CONGRESS. 31 
Professor Lee came to the conclusion that his fishes did not hear, so far, at least, 
as he could get any responses from them. Professor Parker, however, working 
a few years ago in the employ of the Bureau of Fisheries at our laboratory at 
Woods Hole, proved pretty definitely that certain fishes, at least, did respond 
to sound stimuli. He put fishes into a moderately small tank in the laboratory 
and had an apparatus contrived by which he could transmit sound vibrations 
which would shake the tank and thus the water. By this means he could virtu- 
ally eliminate mechanical stimuli, and yet allow the fishes to be affected by 
stimuli which were rapid enough to produce in ourselves auditory sensations. 
Professor Parker’s results led him to believe that fishes could hear to a limited 
degree. He worked chiefly on a certain small noncommercial fish known as the 
“killifish” or ‘“‘mummichog” (Fundulus heteroclitus) ; also on the squeteague, or 
weakfish. 
Now, when this question came up recently as to whether the battleships 
actually did disturb the fishes on our coast, as has been alleged pretty vocifer- 
ously in certain quarters, and also whether the motor boats disturb these fishes, 
naturally the man to whom the Bureau of Fisheries turned for information was 
Professor Parker. The original intention was that Professor Parker should 
carry out some experiments with the cooperation of the Navy Department— 
that is, the Bureau had correspondence with the Navy Department, and an 
arrangement was made, which, however, unfortunately miscarried. We sent 
a boat down to the vicinity of No Mans Land, off Marthas Vineyard, where 
this firing was to take place, but the battleship was not there at the time. Since 
then other propositions have been made by the Navy Department, and we 
might perhaps have made an arrangement with them, but the thing was otherwise 
not practicable at the time. We are in possession, however, of the following 
data: We had in Woods Hole Harbor this summer one of the large revenue 
cutters, the Gresham. Those cutters, as you know, are, of course, provided with 
nothing like such heavy guns as are the naval vessels, but still with good big 
guns, which, at short range, make a concussion unpleasant to people in the 
neighborhood of them, and, of course, a very loud sound. Professor Parker 
went across Woods Hole Harbor with his fishes. The gun was pointed at 
him, firing, of course, a blank charge, and he made observations. The fishes 
were placed in a little pen of netting, which was floated on the surface of the 
water. Doctor Parker is so accustomed to observing the reactions of these 
fishes to stimuli that he would naturally detect even very slight effects, which 
might not be noticed by a less skilled observer. He took out several kinds of 
fishes for this experiment. He tried them, first, at a distance of perhaps 300 
or 400 yards; next somewhat closer than that, and, finally, almost directly 
underneath the guns of the vessel. There were absolutely no responses noted 
on the part of any of these fishes. That, of course, does not prove what a naval 
