OF FISH IN GENERAL. 15 



On their senses of touching and taste. 



selves to be carried down with the, stream that 

 they may leisurely re-ascend against the current 

 of the water; thus the-odoriferous particles swim- 

 ming in that medium being applied more forci- 

 bly to their olfactory organ, produce a stronger 

 sensation. 



Some naturalists have also supposed that fish 

 are incapable of distinguishing tastes. The pa- 

 late of most, they say, is hard and bony, conse- 

 quently incapable of the powers of relishing dif- 

 ferent substances ; and, accordingly, the voraci- 

 ous part of these animals have often been ob- 

 served to swallow the fisherman's plummet in- 

 stead of the bait. Indeed, no voracious animals 

 seem to be endued with much sensibility in this 

 respect, nor would it be probably consistent with 

 that way of promiscuously devouring every crea- 

 ture that comes within its reach, without which 

 they would not be able to subsist; though cer- 

 tainly the other kinds are as well able to dis- 

 tinguish their proper food from what is im- 

 proper, as other animals. With respect to those 

 senses of touching and taste, there can be little 

 room for remark: in all fish, however, external 

 openings for smell are very evident, generally on 

 each side in the osseous fish, and which on each 

 side of the head lead to a complex organ, the 

 surface of which is of considerable extent, and 

 upon a pair of large or olfactory nerves termi- 

 nate. " In some fish, as the haddock, the olfac- 



