THE SENSES OF FISHES. 23 



the trout cannot put forth a band to grasp the glittering 

 trifle ; it has, like a baby, one universal receptacle only 

 its mouth whereby to test the quality of all comfits, 

 then, I say, ask yourself where is the wonder that the 

 wary fish loses caution in the sensuous pleasure of the 

 momentary acquisition, bites and ends its life, not igno- 

 minously, but fighting to the last. I am not joking. 

 This is the only explanation I can oifer after a quarter 

 of a century's wondering. 



II. HEAEIISTG. 



Hearing is the power of perceiving vibration, .whether 

 possessed by a land or water animal, and as abundant 

 evidence exists that fish are sensible of vibration, there 

 can be no excuse for saying that they cannot hear. Hear, 

 they do, and, in their way, most readily, but ftot in the 

 same way as a creature in the air. 



I need hardly remind the reader, that the ear of a 

 human being is a structure of excelling adaptability 

 equally fitted to appreciate the melodies and harmonies 

 of a Mendelsohn, or to the stunning monotone of the 

 thunder clap, and to convey, according to the degrees of 

 refinement, definite impressions of each to the mind. 

 This organ in man is also divided into two sections, 

 broadly distinguished as the outer and inner external 

 and internal ear. The former of these is wanting in 

 fish, and as an apparatus for the collection and magnifi- 

 cation of sound, as it is in air, is not required in water, 

 the denser medium, its absence is precisely what we 

 should expect to find. In place of this, a nerve running 

 from the base of each scale to a large ganglion in the 



