SOME FANCIES SOME FACTS 179 



smell, we may safely assume from the fly 

 fisher's standpoint, at any rate that this sense 

 has no place in our study. The same may be 

 said of taste and feeling; the luckless fish rely- 

 ing upon these senses would find himself hard 

 and fast before he could reach the conclusion 

 that the feathered fly was not what it appeared 

 to be. This leaves sight and hearing as the 

 means by which the trout is apprised of the ap- 

 proach of danger and the angler may well say 

 that they are quite sufficient. 



" If fish could hear as well as see, 

 Never a fisher would there be." 



The experiments made by Ronalds and de- 

 scribed in his "Fly Fishers' Entomology" prove 

 more or less conclusively that trout cannot hear, 

 or at least are not disturbed by sounds pro- 

 duced in the air. Now, while it is quite cer- 

 tain that they are affected by vibrations com- 

 municated to the water, the bottom of the 

 stream, or its banks, I do not believe that the 

 disturbance is conveyed to the senses of the fish 

 unless the vibrations take place close to it. In 

 this connection, an experiment made by myself 

 may prove interesting, even though it may be 

 in no way conclusive, as it was tried but once, 



