A Sportsman 445 



a distance if followed in one place, the odor of which 

 moving by slow currents reaches the perceptive organs 

 of fish. Beyond this there is a condition of body 

 which imparts to other fishes, and likewise attracts, 

 that is inexplicable to our ordinary senses — that 

 which is indicated by the members of a school of fish 

 in keeping together, though often widely separated 

 beyond any possibility of being aided by vision, con- 

 spicuous with porpoises, orcas, sword- and flying-fish 

 and an endless variety of other fishes. Whales upon 

 a tmiform feeding route will be widely separated, 

 and it is a well-known fact that the harpooning of 

 a whale belonging to a school will be almost imme- 

 diately communicated to the other members, separated 

 half a dozen miles apart, as observed by whalers. 



An eminent naturalist, Matthias Dunn, describes 

 the lateral line as consisting in its cells of jelly or 

 mucus, having patches of sensitive hairs here and there, 

 as electrical implements pure and simple, inclosing 

 the whole body of the fish, and says these cells are of 

 the same character as those in the electric or stinging 

 ray; that the fish brain is a magnet polarized by 

 the influence of the peculiar structure of the lateral 

 line, constituting a new sense which he designates as 

 the electric dermal, which, he thinks, aids the migrating 

 fish directly to its destination for spawning grounds 

 or other localities. The latter conclusion may per- 

 haps be of some doubt, though it may under natural 

 laws guide the fish in response to magnetic effect 

 from the rocks, sands and other elements. 



Stahr, the naturalist, considers that the sense of 

 hearing is imparted by the influence of the lateral line. 



Fishermen have observed the feeding activity of 



