140 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF. 



sound like that of a toy windmill, and the mul- 

 let has been heard to utter successive intonations 

 like escaping steam. The hog-fish, found here, 

 and porgy, both make a loud grunting when 

 caught. 



" As long ago as the time of Aristotle," con- 

 tinued the doctor, " fishes were known to utter 

 sounds. Sir Emerson Tennent tells us that, 

 while on a visit to the north coast of Ceylon, he 

 heard on the middle of a lake from whose 

 bottom it was alleged musical sounds issued 

 very distinctly these same sounds, which were 

 like the gentle trills of a musical chord, or the 

 vibrations of a wine-glass when you rub its rim. 

 The drum-fish make the loudest noises, and on 

 the Jersey coast they call the Prionotus pig-fish, 

 because it croaks so loudly when taken in the 

 nets. Prof. Baird believed that these sounds 

 came from the belly of the fish. Travelers have 

 often been startled in their berths by the strange 

 noise of the drum-fish, and I remember that Sir 

 John Richardson says that he could not sleep 

 when off the coast of Carolina on account of the 

 noise these fish made." 



