INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 13 



perhaps the only feeling he has at that time is a feeling of 

 indignation at having his liberty interfered with. What 

 the sensations of a fish are when he is jumping about on 

 the grass, after being drawn out of the water, we cannot tell ; 

 not very pleasant perhaps, and it would be as well for the 

 thoughtful angler just to give him a tap on the head directly 

 on landing him, and so, as the old saw goes, " put him out of 

 his misery." 



Are fish gifted with the senses of taste and smell? is 

 another question which is often asked. We must presume 

 that they are, although some naturalists aver they cannot 

 smell at all, while others say, " they can smell their food at 

 a singular distance, and will track it for many yards." Eonalds 

 speaks of trout that took dead house-flies when plastered over 

 with cayenne and mustard. This would tell us that their 

 senses of smell and taste were not very acute, but then on 

 the other hand, I know that fish can be attracted by scented 

 pastes, and chemically flavoured worms. Some fish also are 

 attracted long distances by salmon roe, prepared in a peculiar 

 manner. I am inclined to the opinion that fish can both 

 taste and smell ; for a chub will take a piece of high-smelling 

 cheese, when he will take nothing else, and the more it smells 

 the better he likes it. 



Enough, however, has perhaps been said on the different 

 senses of fish, and now just a few more remarks, and I musi 

 bring this introductory chapter to a close ; it has already 

 drawn itself out to a much longer length than I had in- 

 tended, though I think I have mentioned nothing that will 

 not interest and perchance instruct the working-man angler. 



We in England cannot boast of having such strange and 

 queer fish as are found in some countries, such as the " flour 

 fish " of China, or the strange variety of carps, or the " crying 

 fish," or the " tree-climbing perch " of that country, but it is 

 said we have a one-eyed fish in the Carnarvonshire lakes, 

 and a peculiar " blue roach " in a pond on the marshes of 

 Kent. 



I have read, too, of the " booming " of the bearded drum- 

 fish, of the "noisy maigre," and of the " grunt fish " of the 

 G-ulf of Mexico, which "can express discontent and pain, 



