FISH POSSESSED OF LITTLE SENSIBILITY. 11 



see no more harm in capturing them by skill 

 and ingenuity with an artificial fly, than in 

 pulling them out of the water by main force 

 with the net; and in general when taken by 

 the common fishermen, fish are permitted to 

 die slowly, and to suffer in the air, from the 

 want of their natural element ; whereas, every 

 good angler, as soon as his fish is landed, 

 either destroys his life immediately, if he is 

 wanted for food, or returns him into the 

 water. 



PHYS. But do you think nothing of the 

 torture of the hook, and the fear of capture, 

 and the misery of struggling against the 

 powerful rod? 



HAL. I have already admitted the danger 

 of analysing, too closely, the moral character 

 of any of our field sports; yet I think it can- 

 not be doubted that the nervous system of 

 fish, and cold blooded animals in general, is 

 less sensitive than that of warm blooded ani- 

 mals. The hook usually is fixed in the car- 

 tilaginous part of the mouth, where there are 

 no nerves ; and a proof that the sufferings 

 of a hooked fish cannot be great is found in 



