886 



Something to Lose Sleep Over- 

 Can Fish Hear ? 



CAN the humble minnov/, or any of his 

 larger brethren, hear? He has ears, 

 but are they any use to him? Some 

 scientists have experimented and said 

 "Yes!" while others have experimented 

 and said "No!" However, recent study 

 seem to indicate that fish do hear. 



Some of the fish experimented 

 upon had their ears removed, 

 and others had their skins 

 made insensible. Then 

 sounds were made in di- 

 rect contact with the 

 water, but without agi- 

 tating it at all, and signs 

 of hearing looked for. 

 It was found that fishes 

 are influenced by sound. 

 One of the most peculiar 

 and striking manifesta- 

 tions was the fact that a 

 fish that had had its 

 hearing organs destroyed 

 lost its sense of direction 

 when swimming fast. It 

 could swim straight 

 slowly, but as soon as it attempted to put 

 on speed it went round in spirals. Con- 

 sidering that many species of fish travel 

 considerable distances during their periods 

 of breeding and depositing their eggs, such 

 loss of direction would tend to make them 

 easy prey for their enemies. 



Popular Science Monthly 



Crown of breathing hairs be- 

 longing to Chameleon fly larva 



breeding places one observer states that 

 he found them in a hot spring in Wyo- 

 ming, where the water was estimated to 

 be but twenty or thirty degrees below 

 boiling point a decidedly close parallel 

 to the salamander's mythical capabilities. 

 The particular one of this family which 

 takes such decided liberties with the pre- 

 vailing mode of wearing one's crown, is 

 the larva of the Chameleon fly. In his 

 case the crown is no mere decora- 

 tion or emblem of rank, but an 

 essential organ in his breath- 

 ing mechanism. 



His crown consists of 

 about thirty many- 

 barbed hairs radiating 

 from a central disk con- 

 taining two perforations 

 for the outlets of the 

 breathing tubes. 

 In the surface attitude 

 the body hangs downward 

 suspended by the crown 

 of hairs,. which crown lies 

 almost flat on the water 

 forming a very shallow 

 funnel, allowing free 

 entrance of the air 

 to the breathing tubes. On leaving the 

 surface, the hairs bend inward, enclosing 

 a glistening bubble which serves to en- 

 close air for 'breathing, while the little 

 creature wriggles about among the mud 

 and debris at the bottom of the pool in 



search of food. 



Crowns On Their Tails. The Queer 

 Forms of Some Flies 



UNEASY lies the head that wears a 

 crown," doesn't apply to the larvae 

 of certain soldier flies; for their crowns 

 are at the ends of their tails. 



The adults (as one of our pictures 

 shows) are rather stout-bodied, un- 

 familiar insects, although about as many 

 species as there are horseflies occur in this 

 country. They frequent the flowers in 

 marshy places and derive their name from 

 their brilliant coloring. 



The larval period of different species 

 is passed in the earth, in damp moss, 

 decaying wood, ants' nests, fresh and 

 brackish water. Some are believed to be 

 parasitic in bee hives. To add still 

 further diversity to their choice of 



During the act of 

 breathing the bub- 

 ble contracts and 

 expands . — C l e - 

 MENT B. Davis. 



J 



In the circle, the adult Chamekciii ily. Below, 

 two larvae, showing crown closed and open 



