INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 11 



capable of compression or expansion according to the will of 

 the fish, is their chief means of raising or depressing them- 

 selves without any apparent use of the fins at all. 



There are many questions connected with the natural 

 history of fish, that would be very interesting to the observ- 

 ing working-man angler ; I have often heard questions like 

 the following raised by some one in a party of anglers : Are 

 the fish very quick-sighted ? Can they see objects at a great 

 distance 1 Is their hearing very acute ? Do they go to sleep 1 

 Can they feel pain when hooked? &c., &c. On all these 

 questions interesting discussions might be raised, but it will 

 be sufficient for our purpose if we only just give them a 

 passing glance. First then as to their sight, some naturalists 

 say that the eye of a fish is very perfect, and of all the senses 

 they possess, that of sight is the most acute of them all, and 

 that a shadow, or a rod flash on the water is sufficient to 

 scare them ; while on the other, hand, others aver that fish 

 are remarkably near-sighted, and cannot behold any object 

 distinctly, however large, unless within the range of a few 

 yards, so it will be seen that on this question there is a great 

 difference of opinion. I, personally, have a strong conviction 

 that fish must have a keen vision, for I know that chub will 

 take an artificial white moth, when night fishing, when it 

 has been so dark, that you could scarcely see the rod you held 

 in your hand, much less the fly on the water ; therefore I 

 advise anglers when fishing to keep as much out of sight as 

 possible. There seems to be a doubt on this subject, and so 

 we will give the fish the benefit of the doubt, and say that 

 their vision is comparatively perfect. There seems to be a 

 great difference of opinion also as to the sense of hearing in 

 fish : one says he has repeatedly tried the experiment of firing 

 a gun near fish, when only a few inches under water, without 

 any effect on them whatever, from which we should almost 

 fancy that fish could not hear at all ; in fact, another writer 

 says, " They have no sense of hearing whatsoever." On the 

 other hand, some naturalists say that fish have a most acute 

 sense of hearing. I have also read that fish in a pond may 

 be trained to come to a person when called by the sound of a 

 bell, or of the human voice; here is a great difference of 



