TROUT FLY-FISHING IN AMERICA 



man and of trout are such that no comparison of them 

 can be made which will at all aid in determining whether 

 or not trout have keen sight and distinguish color or are 

 near-sighted and cannot do so. 



A trout's eye is without eyelids. Its anterior surface 

 (the cornea) is flat, or nearly so, and is covered with the 

 skin of the head, which, over the surface of the eye, is 

 transparent. The eye on this account can never be closed. 

 How then can such an eye be properly compared to the 

 human eye which has eyelids; a convex anterior surface 

 and a much more tender skin or membrane covering, 

 which is so sensitive that the sight is blurred and dimmed 

 when submerged in water? 



,The human eye was designed to perform the function 

 of seeing objects through the medium of the atmosphere, 

 while the eye of the trout was designed to perform the 

 function of seeing objects through the denser medium of 

 the water, and on that account each eye has its own pe- 

 culiar construction and consequent limitations of sight 

 when subjected to unnatural conditions. 



After many years of study and observation of this sub- 

 ject as an angler I can unreservedly say that all trout have, 

 to my mind, keen vision and can distinguish and discrimi- 

 nate between different colors. The extent of their vision 

 and their ability to distinguish colors depend solely upon 

 the kind of water in which they are -found, the position of 

 the object to be seen, the kind of weather conditions and 

 the season of the year. 



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