36 SMELLING IN FISHES. 



trust, in general, more to their sight in seeing 

 them than to their sense of smelling; and that 

 they dart at them with a velocity too great to be 

 checked by any sudden discovery. Some natu- 

 ralists entertain contrary opinions as to the faculty 

 of smelling in fish. Among them is Mr. Erasmus 

 Wilson, who (in an ably written chapter in 

 Ephemera's "Handbook of Angling") places it 

 "next in order to that of hearing, and greatly 

 inferior to sight." 



Naturalists are not fully agreed about the power 

 of vision in fishes ; indeed, unanimity cannot be 

 expected on a subject depending so much upon 

 analogy and conjecture. Mr. Yarrell says " the 

 external structure of the eye itself is but slightly 

 rounded, but the lens is spherical, a structure 

 which, in a dense medium, affords intense power 

 of vision at short or moderate distances rather 

 than a long sight. When water is clear, smooth, 

 and undisturbed, the sight of fishes is very acute. 

 This is well known to anglers, who prefer a 

 breeze that ruffles the surface, well knowing that 

 they can approach much nearer the objects of 

 their pursuit, and carry on their various deceptions 

 with a much better chance of success." Professor 

 Rennie, Professor Wilson, and some other modern 

 writers, who are the advocates of the non-imita- 



