36 FLY-FISHING AND FLY-MAKING. 



the dissection of the feelers of the cat-fish would reveal 

 a similar and probably greater development of nerve 

 fiber, and this fact is sufficient presumption of exquisite 

 perceptive power. 



So, also, the carp is gifted in a similar manner, and 

 the daintiness of the fish is proverbial, whilst the loach 

 (CoUtis barbatula), which lies under stones during the 

 day-time and feeds best on the darkest night, has, in 

 proportion, the most plenteous organs of perception of 

 all. It has six barbules, and if you are so fortunate as 

 to see the little fish feeding in the shady corner of an 

 aquarium, you will observe the investigating movements 

 of the tentacles in a state of great activity. These or- 

 gans who can doubt it are precisely analogous to those 

 of the feline tribe, namely the whiskers, and even to the 

 fingers of the genus homo. 



I apprehend, also, that this perceptive faculty is in 

 correspondence with the development of the soft parts 

 of the jaw and their neighboring processes ; hence, the 

 bony pike cares little for the hook, whilst no mortal ever 

 yet caught a carp with a lost hook in its jaw, or a barbel 

 or a chub 1 (Leuciscus cephalus). 



The perception of sensation in reference to other parts 

 of the body of fishes is an obscure subject, and I shall 

 detail what I have observed, drawing this inference 

 only that in proportion as the scales are small, the 

 sensitiveness of the cuticle increases. Eeasoning thus, 

 we would therefore expect to find the eel the most highly 

 gifted of all, seeing that its scales are microscopical in 

 their minuteness. Nor are we disappointed. The eel 

 will remain quite unconscious of your presence in the 



