166 American Fisheries Society 



sound waves in water, these pass through the hard tis- 

 sues of the head and reach the internal ear unimpaired. 

 Thus no other parts of the ear are necessary. 



Fishes see much as we do — but their field of vision is 

 larger. Owing to the diffuse and weak light of their 

 world and to the position of their eyes, objects appear in 

 less relief to them than to us. Objects in still water are 

 seen by most fishes not only directly, but also upside- 

 down, mirrored in the lower face of the water's surface. 

 Objects in air and above the water about the shore of a 

 pond are also visible to them. But these objects are seen 

 in unnatural positions distorted and fringed with color 

 and their higher parts only are visible. Like a short- 

 sighted person, the fish sees near objects distinctly, dis- 

 tant objects less clearly. Only by a muscular effort does 

 he see distant objects clearly, in so far as they are visible 

 through the opalescent water. Fishes distinguish colors, 

 but whether they see as many colors as we do is not 

 known. Nor can we say that the colors appear to them 

 in the same way that they do to us. 



And so the faith of the fisherman in his gaudy lures 

 is justified. His belief that fish may learn to avoid them 

 or to keep out of nets appears to be founded in fact. 



LITERATURE. 



Bateson, W. : 



1890. The sense-organs and perceptions of fishes; with remarks 

 on the supply of bait. Journal Marine Biological Association 

 of the United Kingdom. New Series, vol. 1, pp. 225-256. 



Beer, Th.: 



1894. Die Accomodation des Fischauges. Pflueger's Archiv., vol. 

 58, p. 523 et seq. 



Bigelow, H. B.: 



1904. The sense of hearing in the goldfish, Carassius auratus L. 

 American Naturalist, vol. 38, pp. 275-284. 



Churchill, E. P.: 



1916. The learning of a maze by goldfish. Journal of Animal 

 Behavior, vol. 4, pp. 247-255. 



Copeland, M.: 



1912. The olfactory reactions of the puffer or swell-fish, Sphae- 

 roides maculatus (Bloch and Schneider). Journal of Experi- 

 mental Zoology, vol. 12, pp. 363-368. 



