352 THE REASON WHY : 



" A man may fish with the -worm that ha';h eat of a kin^ 

 and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm." SHAKSPKRE. 



1143. Why do fishes which swim vertically inhabit near tht 

 surface, while those which sivim horizontally keep to th& 

 bottom ? 



The fish which swims on 

 edge has the tail much 

 more effectively formed as 

 a swimming organ, and the 

 fins much firmer, as well 

 as more produced ; they 

 are, therefore, rapid swim- 

 mers, and rather discursive 

 in their motion. From 

 an opposite development, 

 fishes swimming on the flat of their bodies can only progress 

 , and do not, on that account, range far. 



1144. Why will a fish which has broken away with a hook, 

 frequently take another hook immediately afterwards ? 



Because the mouths of fishes are usually cartilaginous, and 

 furnished (at least in the part where the hook strikes) with few 

 nerves, or they are altogether absent. In such a case the fish 

 experiences little inconvenience from the presence of a hook, and 

 boldly strikes at a fresh bait. 



1145. Sir Humphrey Davy says : " I have caught pike with four or five hooks 

 in their mouths, and tackle which they had broken away with only a few minutes 

 before ; and the hooks seemed to have had no other effect than that of serving as a 

 sauce piquantf, urging them to seize another morsel of the same kind."* 



1146. Why do wounds in fish heal rapidly, and why do they 

 appear to be generally exempt from disease ? 



Because the temperature of the medium in which they reside is 

 uniform, and they are consequently not subject to those alterations 

 of the atmosphere, which are a fruitful source rf morbidity te 

 other portions of the animal creation. 



* "Salmonia." 



