Cuap. X.] FISHES ON DRY LAND. 347 
commentary on the collection Ie) Qavpaclwy dxov- 
cpdtwyv, ascribed to Aristotle, has given a list of the 
authorities about his own times,—GEORGIUS AGRICOLA, 
Grsyrr, Ronprtzt, Datecuamp, Bomarr, and Grono- 
vius, who not only gave credence to the assertions of 
Theophrastus, but adduced modern instances in corro- 
boration of his Indian authorities. 
As regards the fresh-water fishes of India and Ceylon, 
the fact is now established that certain of them possess 
the power of leaving the rivers and returning to them 
again after long migrations on dry land, and modern 
observation has fully confirmed their statements. They 
leave the pools and nullahs in the dry season, and led 
by an instinct as yet unexplained, shape their course 
through the grass towards the nearest pool of water. A 
similar phenomenon is observable in countries similarly 
circumstanced. The Doras of Guiana! have been seen 
travelling over land during the dry season in search of 
their natural element ?, in such droves that the negroes 
fill baskets with them during these terrestrial excursions. 
PatiEGorx in his account of Siam, enumerates three 
species of fishes which leave the tanks and channels 
1 D. Hancockti, Cuv. et Va. 
2 Sir R. Schomburgk’s Fishes of 
Guiana, vol. i. pp. 118, 151, 160. 
Another migratory fish was found 
by Bose very numerous in the 
fresh waters of Carolina and in 
ponds liable to become dry in 
summer. When captured and 
placed on the ground, “they always 
directed themselves towards the 
nearest water, which they could not 
possibly see, and which they must 
have discovered by some internal 
index. They belong to the genus 
Hydrargyra, and are called Swam- 
pines.— Kirpy, Bridgewater Trea- 
tise, vol. i. p. 148. 
Eels kept in a garden, when 
August arrived (the period at 
which instinct impels them to go 
to the sea to spawn) were in the 
habit of leaving the pond, and 
were invariably found moving east- 
ward in the direction of the sea.— 
‘YaRRELL, vol. ii. p. 384. Anglers 
observe that fish newly caught, 
when placed out of sight of water, 
always struggle towards it to 
escape. 
