Fishes Ears. 253 



There are probably thousands of well-informed 

 persons to whom it has never occurred to think of a 

 fish as requiring or possessing ear-bones, and very 

 few will have formed any conception of what such 

 bones are like, or have been at the pains to search 

 for them in a fish of any kind, let alone a catfish, 

 a creature of ferocious aspect, with a disagreeable 

 odour and a slime-covered skin. 



Yet the ear-bones of fishes are characteristic in 

 different species, and furnish a very interesting study 

 in comparative anatomy. Found as detached fossils, 

 they would be puzzling specimens to any one un- 

 acquainted with existing forms. 



Robertson mounted a large number on card-board 

 slides, some of the bones, as those of the sprat, being 

 quite microscopic, while others are of considerable 

 size, those of the common hake attaining more than 

 an inch and a half in length and nearly half an inch 

 in breadth. Thirty-nine of these slides have been 

 photographed together, the group forming a fine 

 plate, as unusual in appearance as it is scientifically 

 interesting, The names of the contributory fishes are 

 recorded in the appendix. 



Those who wish on their own account to make 

 search for these ear-bones may like to know that they 

 are contained in cartilaginous capsules under the pro- 

 tection of the post-frontal bones of the skull. They 

 are not, however, always to be met with, as may be 

 seen by the following quotation from Professor H. G. 

 Seeley, who says : 



" The organ of hearing is well developed in all 

 fishes ; the membranous labyrinth in the lamprey has 



