UNKNOWN TONGUES. 249 



cannot bear the grating sound of sawmills, and has his 

 nerves shaken by the firing of guns. Sturgeons also are 

 frightened by loud cries, and thus driven into the fisher- 

 man's net; and the bleak-fish detests a drum so that he 

 rather surrenders than endure its abominable rolling. 

 An Italian has, of late, proved in a brilliant manner, that 

 fishes can not only hear, but actually obey and execute 

 orders, that, in fact, they show much higher endowments 

 than they have heretofore been thought to possess. He 

 has tamed a variety of fishes, from the humble tench to 

 the gorgeous goldfish of China, and as he bids them, they 

 come and go, they rise or sink, and display their rich, 

 ever-changing colors. Nay, they perform a miniature dra- 

 ma : a pike seizes a trout, and lets it go or brings it up 

 to the surface, as the master commands with his voice. 



It needs no proof to establish the hearing of higher an- 

 imals; but even the lowest among them, and those that 

 are almost mute, show their appreciation of sounds when 

 carefully watched. The shapeless hedgehog, when tamed, 

 will uncoil at the word of his owner, and the grotesque 

 seal raises its uncouth head, with such beautiful eyes, high 

 out of the water, to listen to music on shore. It loves 

 to hear gentle voices, and is grateful for kind words. Of 

 all things else, they bind it firmest to its master, and call 

 forth its warmest affections. The tiny mouse, that finds a 

 home in the hut of the Alpine herdsman, becomes there 

 so tame, that it points its silky ears and approaches at 

 the whistle of the Senner, when at night he returns to 

 his meal and his rest. Even with us, it has been known 

 to come timidly out of its corner, to listen to a song. 

 H* 



