Apbil 27, 1883.] 



SCIENCE. 



327 



ceeded, and these survive in the existent water- 

 gaps. There can be little doubt that lakes 

 very frequently appeared and disappeared on 

 these stream-courses during the growth of the 

 mountains. , 



THE INTELLIGENCE OF FISH. 



In Mr. Romanes's recent volume on Animal 

 intelligence,^ only thirteen pages are devoted 

 to the intelligence of fish. That this class 

 of animals is more ' knowing ' than is gen- 

 erally believed, is, I hold, unquestionable. 

 From frequent conversations with old fisher- 

 men, I have learned that the exercise of cun- 

 ning, on the part of fish, is by no means 

 uncommon ; and I have also found that certain 

 sayings are common among these people, such 

 as 'cute as an eel,' 'sly as a snippick,' i.e., 

 snipe-pike (Belone truncata) , which also show 

 that fish are credited with considerable intel- 

 ligence by these practical observers, whether 

 rightfully or not. My own impression, based 

 upon long-continued, careful study of our 

 fish, long since fully convinced me that many 

 of them were possessed of nearly as much in- 

 telligence as birds, and more than either the 

 snakes or batrachians. This may seem a 

 hastj' statement, but I believe it is substan- 

 tially correct. For this reason, I am surprised 

 that so little has been recorded by observers, 

 with reference to fish, as is evident from the 

 meagre arra_y of facts presented by Mr. Ro- 

 manes in the work mentioned. The author, in 

 the opening remarks of his chapter on fish, 

 says, " Neither in its instincts nor in general 

 intelligence can any fish be compared with an 

 ant or a bee." This statement I propose to 

 dispute, because there is abundant evidence 

 that the intelligence of fish varies exceed- 

 ingly, and some fish do possess an amount 

 of cunning which brings them nearer to the 

 ants or bees than Mr. Romanes's remark 

 would imply. Had our author said ' most 

 fish,' perhaps no exception could have been 

 taken to the statement ; but, using the words 

 'any fish,' he is, I think, open to criticism. 



But what are the evidences that some fish 

 possess such an amount of intelligence as I 

 have intimated? In replj', I have to offer a 

 case of great cunning shown bj' a number of 

 pike when in danger of capture. A gilling- 

 net had been placed across the outlet of 

 a small tributary of Popihacka Creek. In this 

 little spring-brook several large pike had 

 wandered in search of minnows. Being dis- 

 turbed, thej'^ rushed with great impetuosity 



1 Animal intelligence. By George J. Romanes. — {Intemat. 

 8C. ser., no. xliv.) New York, Appleton & Co. 



towards the net, and the foremost of them 

 was at once securely entangled in its meshes. 

 Straightway the others stopped as suddenly as 

 they had started, and, recognizing their fellow 

 in "trouble, ' took in the situation ' at once. 

 Each pike evidently realized the true condition 

 of affairs, and reasoned thus : that pike tried 

 to go through this obstacle in the water, and 

 is in trouble ; it is necessary for me to avoid 

 it by some other means. There were five of 

 these fish that paused close to the net ; and 

 each acted, I believe, as it thought best. One 

 of them came to the surface, and, after a 

 moment's pause, turned upon one side, and 

 leaped over the cork-line. Seeing the success 

 of this effort on the part of one, a second did 

 the same. A third came to the shore near 

 where I stood, and, discovering a narrow space 

 between the brail and the net, passed very 

 slowly through, as though feeling its way, al- 

 though the water was so shallow that its body 

 was fully one-third out of the water as it did 

 so. The others were either more timid or less 

 cunning. They turned to go up stream ; but 

 being met by my companion, who was making 

 a great noise by whipping the water, they 

 rushed again towards the net, but checked 

 their course when their noses touched the 

 fatal net. Prompt action was necessary. 

 They had not confidence in their leaping- 

 powers ; and both, as though struck with the 

 same thought at the same moment, sank sud- 

 denly to the bottom of the stream, and bur- 

 rowed into the sand and beneath the lead line, 

 which was in full view. In a moment they 

 reappeared on tlie other side of the net, and 

 were gone. I could have prevented the 

 escape of all of these fish, but was so much in- 

 terested in the evidence of thought exhibited 

 by them, that the idea of molesting them did 

 not occur to me. There was something in the 

 manner of these fish, too, which is not readily 

 described, but which gave an importance to 

 those acts, on their parts, that I have men- 

 tioned, and which added materially to the 

 strength of the evidence that they were ' think- 

 ing ' in all that they did. 



Evidence of the intelligence of fish is further 

 shown by our common sunfish (Eupomotis 

 aureus), which not only mates early in the 

 spring, and guards its nest and young until 

 the latter are able to shift for themselves, but 

 in many cases remains paired. If it can be 

 said of storks, that marriage occurs among 

 them, the same is true of sunfish. I have 

 known the same pair to occupy for several 

 years the well-protected space bounded by the 

 twisted roots of an enormous maple, that 



