140 ALONG THE FLORIDA REEF. 



sound like that of a toy windmill, and the mul- 

 let has been heard to utter successive intonations 

 like escaping steam. The hog-fish, found here, 

 and porgy, both make a loud grunting when 

 caught. 



" As long ago as the time of Aristotle," con- 

 tinued the doctor, " fishes were known to utter 

 sounds. Sir Emerson Tennent tells us that, 

 while on a visit to the north coast of Ceylon, he 

 heard on the middle of a lake — from whose 

 bottom it was alleged musical sounds issued — 

 very distinctly these same sounds, which were 

 like the gentle trills of a musical chord, or the 

 vibrations of a wine-glass when you rub its rim. 

 The drum-fish make the loudest noises, and on 

 the Jersey coast they call the Prion ot its pig-fish, 

 because it croaks so loudly when taken in the 

 nets. Prof. Baird believed that these sounds 

 came from the 1 >elly of the fish. Travelers have 

 often been startled in their berths by the strange 

 noise of the drum-fish, and I remember that Sir 

 John Richardson says that he could not sleep 

 when off the coast of Carolina on account of the 

 noise these fish made." 



