54 
WILD NORWAY. 
It will thus be obvious that the angler’s lure must, 
speaking generally, be presented to the salmon deeper 
in the water than is necessary with trout—varying of 
course with the depth of the stream. This effect is 
obtained by holding the rod-point low while working 
the fly—in deep streams, within a few inches of the 
surface. 
Again, I doubt if the salmon can avail his full 
powers of sight to any such degree as does the trout. 
Lying deep beneath the surface, the comparative 
absence of light must tend to neutralize his eye-power. 
Just as in the half light and rifted shade of the forest, 
the elk has learned to rely more on the senses of scent 
and sound than on that of sight, so too does Salmo 
solar in the depth of his swirling pool; and in each 
case nature, ever prompt to supply an equipoise, comes 
to aid. The broad, palmated antlers of the elk serve 
(as elsewhere suggested) to concentrate the least vibra¬ 
tions of sound-waves, and direct them into the cavernous 
ear behind; while in the salmon (which has neither 
ears nor sense of smell) there is provided an apparatus 
that intensifies the fish’s sensitiveness to every external 
change. On the top of his skull are placed two oblong, 
bony plates, perhaps three inches in length, one on 
either side, each covering, and, as it were, closing with 
a valve a small circular aperture in the cranium—say 
half an inch in diameter—and leading to the brain. 
Thus there is communicated to the brain, magnified 
in the ratio of at least six to one, the faintest wave- 
sound or vibration in the waters above. The moral is 
that the angler may fish without fear down-stream; 
he need not use that extreme care to conceal himself 
