FLYING-FISH. 



513 



of suspension, and following exactly the same law, so 

 that if the total height of the wave is between 66 and 

 (>7 inches, it will vibrate seconds with the same 

 accuracy as the pendulum of a clock; that is, each 

 part, of it will take one second to come to the level, 

 and of course an equal time to shift from above to 

 below, or from below to above. This motion of the 

 surface of the water must cause a corresponding 

 undulation of the air over the surface ; and if any 

 object whatever is simply floating in the air, and sup- 

 ported by that, without any exertion of its own, it must 

 of course undulate along with it. The Hying- fish is sup- 

 ported in this manner, and therefore when the air in 

 which the fish is, sinks down following the trough 

 of the sea, the fish must sink down along with it ; 

 and so also when the air is raised up by the other 

 part of the motion, or the elevation of the ridge, that 

 the fish must be upheaved along with it is therefore 

 perfectly evident. There is no question that those 

 motions of the sea, communicated to the air, and by 

 the air to the flying-fish, which simply floats in it, may 

 give the fish an apparently undulating, or alternately 

 an ascending and descending motion both in its 

 ascent and its descent to those who observe it looking 

 endways on the waves ; nor is there any doubt that 

 this is the real cause which has led the popular 

 describers into the blunder with regard to their 

 ascents and their descents. 



On the general subject of flying-fishes we shall 

 take the liberty of quoting a passage from Mr. 

 Yarrell's very scientific work on British fishes, now 

 in the course of publication. . " The most recent ob- 

 servations on the habits and powers of the flying-fish 

 are those by Mr. George Bennett, the author of 

 Wanderings in New South Wales and other coun- 

 tries, \vho appears to have devoted particular attention 

 to the subject. ' I have never,' observes this gentle- 

 man, ' been able to see any percussion of the pectoral 

 fins during flight, and the greatest length of time 

 that 1 have seen these volatile fish on the fin has 

 been thirty seconds by the watch, and their longest 

 flight, mentioned by Captain Hall, has been two 

 hundred yards, but he thinks that subsequent ob- 

 servation has extended the space. The most usual 

 height of flight, as seen above the surface of the 

 water, is from two to three feet ; but I have known 

 them come on board at a height of fourteen feet and 

 upwards ; and thev have been well ascertained to 

 come into the channels of a line-of-battle ship, which 

 is considered as high as twenty feet and upwards. 



" ' But it must not be supposed they have the power 

 of elevating themselves in the air, after having left 

 their native element ; for, on watching them, I have 

 often seen them fall much below the elevation at 

 which they first rose from the water, but never in any 

 one instance could I observe them raise themselves 

 from the height at which they first sprang; for I re- 

 gard the elevation they take to depend on the power 

 of the first spring or leap they make on leaving their 

 native element.' 



" The wriier of the supplementary part to the class 

 Fishes, in Mr. Griffith's edition of Cuvier's Animal 

 Kingdom, agrees with Mr. George Bennett. He 

 states that the flying-fishes rise into the air by thou- 

 sands at once, and in all possible directions. Their 

 flight, as it is called, carries them fifteen or eighteen 

 feet out of the water; but it is an error to call them 

 flying-fishes, they do not in reality fly, they only leap 

 iiito the air, where they have not the power of sus- 



NAT. HIST. VOL. II. 



taining themselves at will. They never come forth 

 from the water except after a rapid course of swim- 

 ming. When put alive into a vessel of sea-water, in 

 which there was not sufficient space to acquire mo- 

 mentum, they were only able to rise out of it a few 

 inches. The lines which they traverse, when they 

 enjoy full liberty of motion, are very low curves, and 

 always in the direction of their previous progress in 

 the water. 



" The recent observations of both these writers 

 confirm the view taken by Cuvier of the powers of 

 flying-fishes, as described in the llegne Animal of 

 that author ; who, using the words flight and wings 

 figuratively only, says, ' their flight is never very long, 

 and their wings (fins) only serve them as parachutes.' 



" The flying-fishes themselves feed on molluscn 

 and small fishes. Their flesh has an asreeable flavour, 

 and is often eaten by mariners on long voyages." 



We have quoted these paragraphs because they 

 embody the testimonies of eye-witnesses, and are 

 selected by one who is not likely to be imposed upon 

 by fanciful theories. At the same time, we do not 

 think any appeal to the facts necessary in this parti- 

 cular case, inasmuch as there is quite enough in the 

 structure of these fishes to establish the truth of their 

 being incapable of flight, that is, of giving themselves 

 a new impulse from the air as a fulcrum. Some have 

 pretended to say that they fly by means of the humi- 

 dity of their pectoral fins, and fall in the water only 

 when these become dry ; but this is an absurdity 

 which carries along with it its own refutation. That 

 there is a certain capillary attraction between water 

 and air is perfectly true, but the degree of this attrac- 

 tion is not sufficient to suspend in the air any body, 

 however light, as may be ascertained by any one who 

 chooses to wet any substance whatever, and commit 

 it to the air. Its rate of falling in such a case will 

 not be found to be materially affected by the wetting 

 of its surface, and in the case of a substance lighter 

 than water it will be found that the wetting makes it 

 fall faster. There is as little truth in the notion that 

 these fishes buoy themselves up in the air by means 

 of any membrane connecting the fins which they ex- 

 tend as a sail, that is, they acquire, and can acquire 

 no new impulse from any such contrivance, even 

 granting that they were in possession of it. They 

 are fairly committed to the atmosphere, in which they 

 have not the slightest means or power of action, and 

 thus the}' can remain in the atmosphere no longer 

 than the force with which they originally project 

 themselves from the water can sustain them. 



If it were not for the peculiar form and the elon- 

 gation of their tins, the flying-fishes have a good deal 

 of similarity to the herring. They are also of a silvery 

 lustre, and have a very brilliant appearance when a 

 cloud of them leap simultaneously into the air. In 

 the warm seas those displays are exceedingly com- 

 mon ; and after ships from this country have made 

 so much "southing" as to gain the trade wind or nearly 

 so, these fishes and their enemies of the sea or of 

 the air are among the most interesting phenomena of 

 the steady and comparatively tranquil voyage. These 

 fishes rise from the surface of the water in crowds as 

 much thronged, and projected along with as much 

 velocity as flocks of birds when they rise from a stub- 

 ble field. But though this sight is a lively and excit- 

 ing one, even it shows that they then are out of their 

 element, or in terms of the common expression, " fish 

 out of the water." When the flock of birds rise, they 

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