68 ANGLING. 



parts of the head being formed of soft and yielding 

 cartilage, the necessary divisions may be effected 

 with great ease. The Chinese, who breed large 

 quantities of the well-known gold-fish, call them 

 with a whistle to receive their food. Sir Joseph 

 Banks used to collect his fish by sounding a bell, 

 and Carew the historian of Cornwall, brought his 

 grey mullet together to be fed by making a noise 

 with two sticks."* It appears to us, however, that 

 the simple fact of fishes being as a class almost, if 

 not entirely mute, is of itself a logical ground for 

 believing that their perceptions of sound are ex- 

 tremely dull. 



SECTION IX. 



Organs of Smell in Fishes. 



A FEW lines may now be devoted to a considera- 

 tion of the sense of smell. The nostrils of fishes are 

 not so placed as to be traversed either by air or 

 water, in connexion with the act of respiration. 

 They consist merely of two openings, situate near 

 the extremity of the muzzle, and lined by the pitui- 

 tary membrane, which is raised in extremely regu- 

 lar folds. Their shape is in some oblong, in others 

 round or oval. They are placed either at the end 

 of the muzzle, or on its sides ; sometimes on its 



* BRITISH FISHES, Introduction, p. xvi. 



