GENEEAL OUTLINES OP ICHTHYOLOGY. 15 



its prey without any apparent loss of appetite or energy. 

 All anglers are well acquainted with the fact that a pike 

 will constantly take a fresh bait immediately after escaping 

 from the hook, and often with the broken tackle still im- 

 bedded in his jaws. Mr. Stoddart * even mentions a case 

 in which this occurred after the fish had been for some time 

 in his basket, from which however it escaped, and was 

 instantly taken a second time. I have myself hooked the 

 same pike with the spoon-bait three times within as many 

 minutes; and an incident, elsewhere referred to, which 

 occurred to me before several witnesses, where a perch was 

 actually caught with its own eye, would appear to remove 

 any doubts that may remain on the subject. 



It must not be inferred, however, that fish are wholly 

 destitute of the organs of feeling, which, indeed, are essen- 

 tial to a certaiu extent for their self-preservation. The lips 

 in many species are soft and pulpy ; the mouths of others 

 are provided with barbules, or cirri, — sometimes called 

 'barbels,' or ' beards,' — largely supplied with nerves, and 

 acting, doubtless, as delicate organs of touch, for detecting 

 the nature of the substances with which they come in con- 

 tact. A remarkable instance is observable in the Gurnards, 

 which may be said to be provided with long, flexible, and 

 sensitive fingers, to compensate for their bony lips. It is 

 an almost universal rule, that ' bearded ' fish obtain their 

 food close to the ground ; and these feelers appear to be 

 given, as a valuable equivalent, to species which, restricted 

 * Angler's Companion. 



