UPON ANIMALS. 



93 



assemble at one particular spot, where they are captured, consequently, 

 in greater numbers. Captain Basil Hall, in his interesting- " Voyages," 

 tells us, that proceeding- up a river in China, he and his seamates were 

 somewhat surprised at observing some fishermen in their vessels utter- 

 ing- loud yells and shouts, at the same time striking- some of those well- 

 known musical instruments termed " g-ong-s," which were suspended 

 from their masts. The captain at first considered that all this noise 

 was intended to drive away the English Ambassador, who had just 

 arrived ; but in this opinion, however, he was soon undeceived by 

 learning that it was merely produced with the view of driving the fishfrom 

 that part of the river to another, where nets were waiting in readiness 

 to receive them *. iEsop would seem to have been aware of the 

 repulsive effect of music upon fishes, as he makes the fisherman in one 

 of his fables fail in his sport in consequence of his playing on the flute. 



We will now consider the attractive power of music over the brute 

 creation. This power seems to be, from a variety of recorded instances, 

 remarkably apparent in the case of the stag, of which creature it is 

 stated, that upon the sound of music it becomes divested of its natural 

 timidity, and gradually approaches to the place from whence the sounds 

 proceed. " If a person happen to whistle, or call at a distance," says 

 the authoress of the Natural Historian, " the stag stops short, and 

 gazes upon the stranger with a kind of silent admiration ; and if he per- 

 ceives neither fire-arms nor dogs preparing against him, he goes slowly 

 forward, with apparent unconcern. * * * * He seems delighted 

 with the sound of the shepherd's pipe ; which, on that account, is 

 sometimes used to lure him to destruction." A dolphin, according to 

 ancient history, was so charmed with the lute of Arion, as to sv\im 

 towards him and save him from the watery element into which he was 

 necessitated to throw himself, to escape from his mutinous crew, who 

 permitted him, at his request, to chant some sweet strains to his lute 

 previous to his diving into the sea, from which he was so happily res- 

 cued by the intervention of this philharmonic fish, who safely conveyed 

 the great musician upon its back to Cape Tsenarus in Sparta, where it 

 was taken leave of by its rider, who went thence to the city of Corinth. 

 Mr. Wadd, in an extremely interesting article on " Medical Music," 

 published in the Quarterly Journal of Science, in April 1829, when 

 alluding to the above historical account, justly observes, that "it would 



* Hall's Voyages, vol. 1. p. 24. 



