GENERAL OUTLINES OF ICHTHYOLOGY. 17 



Taste. 

 The sense of taste in fish is probably low, as a great part 

 of the tongue is bony, and frequently furnished with teeth, 

 placed there for the purpose of prehension. Obliged neces- 

 sarily to open and close the jaws in respiring, they cannot 

 long retain food in the mouth when quite shut, and the 

 substance, if of small size, must be swallowed quickly and 

 without much mastication. It has been thought possible, 

 from the bony nature of the tongue and the shape of the 

 teeth, which are calculated to assist in conveying food to 

 the back of the mouth, that the sense of taste may reside 

 in the soft, fleshy portions of the throat. A low sense of 

 taste generally, however, would appear to be inferred from 

 the fact that fish are often unable to distinguish poisonous 

 substances, and are accordingly frequently destroyed whole- 

 sale by poachers. The sense of taste is more developed in 

 the herbivorous than in the carnivorous fishes. 



Affections. 



Under certain circumstances fish have been known to 

 exhibit a very decided affection for members both of their 

 own and of other species. Such affection, however, has 

 been most commonly observed to exist between fishes of 

 the same species, but of opposite sexes, at the time of 

 spawning. 



Organs of Digestion. 

 The intestines of fish generally are short, and the diges- 



