THE SENSES OF FISHES. 31 



of catching fish, if the experiment of squeezing a few 

 drops of tobacco juice into the paste from the end of a 

 wet cigar is tried, not one fish more will take that paste. 

 Expert roach fishermen never smoke when fishing, for 

 this reason. 



(2.) Barbel (a gregarious ground feeder), are often 

 caught one after the other, as rapidly as it is possible to 

 reel in with the fresh lob worm, (garden worm). If you 

 throw in a handful of worms that are dead, you will put 

 them off their feed for that day. A single fact such as 

 these is worth a cartload of mere theories. It proves in- 

 contesfcably that fish possess discriminating palates. 



The tasting powers of trout were made the object of 

 special experiments by Eonald. He projected, by means 

 of a blow-pipe, house flies to his trout, and plastered 

 various strong condiments, such as mustard and pepper, 

 over them. He says the fish took them indifferently. 

 Now, it would be interesting to know how much of the 

 spices remained on the flies as they sailed down the 

 water after going through the air from the blow pipe ? 

 And it is fair to presume that they would not be covered 

 so completely as to hide their identity as flies. Howbeit, 

 it is also said that a large bee was thrown to a trout, 

 which he took ; but he rejected a wasp didn't relish 

 the " business end" of him, perhaps ! 



Of course, I do not assert that fish have the sense of 

 taste in the same perfection as warm-blooded animals, 

 but I contend they exhibit like and dislike in a lesser 

 degree certainly, but by no means in a dissimilar way. 

 Especially would I insist that the carp family, with their 

 soft, palatal tongues, possess it in a high degree. The 



