a. That the sounds emitted by these fish are voluntary, because the animal can open or close at pleasure little valves in the duct of the air-bladder, which control the escape of gas from this receptaclé - an act essential to the production of sound.

sounds emitted, while, on the other bladder can be transmitted to them. hand, they entirely ceased when various Weber, in consequence, then, regarded substances, such as bits of kid glove, had the air-bladder as an organ for the reinbeen stuffed between the pharyngeal forcement of the sounds transmitted to teeth those dents-en-velours, as Cuvier the body of the fish by the surrounding termed them, which, like a gin, jealously medium. From experiments made upon guard the approaches of the gullet. It the barbel and meunier (Cyprinus domust be noted that the branchial arches bula), M. Dufossé concludes differ from those of most of the mackerel family in having their mucous lining not clothed with a softish cartilaginous cushion, but encrusted inside with calcareous plates, and carrying tooth-like organs of the hardness of enamel. The various muscles, too, of the hyoidean apparatus (that which mainly influences the move- B. That the function of the air-bladder ments of the bones carrying the lower and duct, in addition to any other which pharyngeal teeth) are relatively largely they may discharge in common with developed. It was further found that these organs in other fishes, is "to prowhen the fish was examined in a vessel duce a certain quantity of gas, and to exfilled with sea-water, the sounds emitted pel the same with the speed necessary were not accompanied by the liberation for the formation of sounds of expresof a single bubble of gas from any of the sion ;" and that the principal agent in natural openings of the body, nor did the propulsion of this gas is, through its the fish come to the surface to swallow anatomical relations, the posterior lobe the least mouthful of air. of the air-bladder. The sounds emitted by the loach have a greater intensity, and present greater varieties.

b. By the friction of densely hard prominences from the jaws, playing the part of intermaxillary teeth, noises being thus produced which resemble the grinding of the teeth of pigs, or of certain ruminants. Only one fish is as yet known to employ such mechanism, namely the sunfish (Orthragoriscus mola), which has two hard prominences, one on each jaw, fulfilling the function of intermaxillary teeth.

We now come to the second and most important section of the second category. This includes sounds having the following character. Their timbre is more or less sweet and soft, and never excites such sensations as are produced by the grinding of teeth. It is, moreover, subject to an extraordinary degree of change, varying frequently, and even changing during the extent of a sound. Such sounds can be appreciated musically; are, in other words, "commensurable.'

Let the reader place a finger in each ear, and then "set his teeth" hard. After hearing a dull low murmur, like the rumbling of a distant chariot, he may possibly exclaim, in the language of Catullus sonitu suopte

Tintinant aures.*

Not so.

We now come to the second division, which comprises all kinds of blowing sounds, "bruits de souffle." Many fishes produce such sounds, among them being the carp tribe and the Silurus glanis; but the most remarkable effects have been noticed in the loach (Cobitis), the barbel, and the carp. All these fishes have an air-bladder provided with a duct, which communicates with the gullet, and which is, moreover, divided, in the carp tribe, into two chambers, which, however, communicate, by a transverse con- ferent kind. The sound in question is Such sound is of a totally difstriction. In the loach this organ lies in due to a vibration caused by the contracfront of and out of the abdomen, ination of his temporals and masseters box formed for it by bony plates derived from the sides of the second and third those "aldermanic" muscles, as we bevertebræ. According to the researches of lieve they have been termed - and has Weber, which have been confirmed by Bréchet and others, the air-bladder in the barbel and loach is brought into relation with the organs of hearing through the medium of a chain of bones, so that the slightest vibrations of the wall of the

been investigated by many observers,
among them the celebrated Wollaston,
and has in consequence received many

"Upon my ear a noisy nothing rings."- Keats
(Endymion).
βομβεῦσιν δ' ἀκοαί μοι. — Sappho.

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the intracostals which contract to produce sound, but only that portion of the muscular surface which is in immediate contact with the air-bladder; and that, under these circumstances, whatever organs, whether bony or otherwise, are acted upon by these muscles, come only into play as accessories to the production and propagation of sound.

names, e.g. Wollastonian vibration, agi- not the totality of the fleshy bundles of tatio spiritum (Grimaldi), bruit de rotation (Lænnec), trémulation musculaire (Dugès), &c. Wollaston essayed to count the vibrations of these sounds, and found only from 14 to 36 in a second, so that they can hardly be regarded as "commensurable," i.e. musical sounds, if Dupré's recent conclusions be correct, that a sound composed of less than 32 vibrations per second cannot be appre- Let us now briefly consider the second ciated musically. Now M. Dufossé has of the two methods of the production of discovered that in many fishes the sounds"commensurable" sounds. Here the produced by them are essentially of an air-bladder is itself "a generator of analogous nature, and that the vibrations sounds, as completely independent of into which these may be analyzed can be the rest of the organism of the fish as measured by appropriate instruments. any other apparatus of 'psophosis,'* or Further than this, he has shown that even of phonation with which the animal there are two methods of the causation may be endowed." After placing a gurof such sounds 1, by the contraction nard on its back, making a long incision of muscles lying in close contiguity to in the abdominal walls, and carefully the air-bladder, so that the latter fulfils drawing aside any viscera which may obthe office of an instrument of reinforce- struct the view, if the tip of a finger be ment of sound, in other words, a kind of held in contact with the air-bladder, sounding-board; 2, by the contraction vibration will be felt exactly synchronous of muscles which are part and parcel of with, and having the same intensity as the air-bladder itself. So then this lat- the sounds produced by the fish. This ter may be regarded in toto as an instru- can be further proved by means of a ment of music, and not merely as playing stethoscope applied to this organ. Fura secondary rôle. The mailed gurnard, ther than this the air-bladder will be seen, marlamat (Trigla cataphracta, Linn.), of- during the emission of such sounds, to fers a good instance of the first of these be affected by movements which may methods. In the abdomen of this fish, either throw the organ into folds or subarched over by the ribs and lying within ject it to a greater tension in various the so-called "lateral" muscles of Cuvier, parts; and this even to such a degree as may be seen on either side a muscle somewhat to alter its general shape. which runs along the whole length Having isolated the organ as much as of this cavity. This muscle is attached possible by delicate yet rapid manipulaposteriorly to certain fibrous internal tion from the rest of the body, with the aponeuroses, and, after increasing in size exception of the vessels and nerves which and becoming cylindrical anteriorly, pass to it, let a stethoscope, provided at splits into two slips, the shorter of which its mouth with a diaphragm of goldis attached by a tendon to the so-called beater's skin, be applied to the anterior "humeral" element of the pectoral fin, part of the organ; then let the nerves while the other terminates at the back which pass to the latter be severed, of the skull. These muscles are fur- first on one side and then on the other, ther conspicuous by their red colour, when it will be found that the sound first have moreover the characters of vol- decreases in intensity, and finally ceases untary muscles, in that their ultimate altogether. From this and other experifibrils are transversely striped, and are ments M. Dufossé concludes that the airsupplied by special branches from the third pair of cervical nerves,- nerves which in other gurnards pass to the "intrinsic" muscles of the air-bladder.* M. Dufossé has established the curious fact that, in the majority of cases, it is

The anatomist Stannius mentions, among other branches of the pneumogastric nerve, certain which run "inter membranas vesicæ natatoriæ. Inde ab œsophago in ductu ad vesicam decurrentes hanc ipsam adsequuntur. Fibre he nerveæ omnen colore niveo ceteris

bladder, in the majority of the gurnard family

a. Is a physiological organ, which, whatever, may be its other functions, is a generator of sounds.

3. That its "intrinsic" muscles, by their vibration, aided and intensified by the rest of the organs, are the agents of such sounds.

This is a word coined by Dugès. It appears to be excellunt." (Symbola ad Anatomiam piscium. Ros- darived from pos (Lat. strepitus), any articulate sound, as opposed to own.

tochii: 1839-)

y. That other muscles, by their contraction, can alter the shape of the organ, and thus modify the quality of the sounds emitted.

What part the internal partition or "diaphragm "takes in modification of sounds does not seem to be clearly established, except that, in the maigres, at any rate, where it is fairly developed, it does no more than play a very secondary part"un effet bien accessoire, bien peu important dans l'émission de ces phénomènes acoustiques." Space unfortunately will not permit us to consider the interesting modifications of the air-bladder, and the concomitant variations in vocal phenomena deducible therefrom, which are met with in the maigre, umbrina, the dorees and the dactylopterus; but mention must not be entirely omitted of the fact that in one of the sea-horses (Hippocampus brevirostris) the mechanism of the production of sounds is reduced to its simplest expression, being merely the vibration of voluntary muscles reinforced by an air-bladder having neither duct nor diaphragm, nor "intrinsic" muscles, both sets of organs being no better developed than in fishes which do not produce any sound what

ever.

It would have been interesting, had the limits of this article permitted it, to have considered more fully the phenomena of sound just described, from a musical and physical point of view; but as the subject has in these pages been regarded rather from a biological stand-point, I would fain leave the more mechanical part of it - one fraught with great interest, and most fully and ably discussed by M. Dufossé-to the consideration of the physicist and scientific musician, for “la vibration musculaire," as this writer well observes, "attend encore son historien; le savant qui, au moyen de recherches expérimentales assez multipliées, pour faire une étude bien approfondie, bien complète de ce fait naturel, l'élevera au rang des phénomènes les plus intéressants de la biologie."

It appears that out of more than 3,000 species of fishes, no more than 52 are at present known to produce sound. This contrasts most singularly with that which happens among the other four vertebrate classes, containing at least 12,000 species; for here every individual possesses a larynx-in other words, an organ of voice and out of these those that are incapable of exercising the functions of this organ are in a very small minority.

Not only is there every reason to beAs space further fails us for a proper re-lieve that the majority of sounds proview of the gamut of the piscine orches- duced by fishes are not casual uttertra, we must content ourselves with one ances, but are truly voluntary; but there example. We will take the maigres, a is among such as give vent to them description of whose musical perform-a most remarkable development of the ance has been already quoted at the be-organs of hearing in all essential parginning of this article. The sounds ticulars-e.g. in the semicircular canals, emitted by these fishes are notable prin- otoliths and nerves *- correlative with cipally for their length, having a mean of the degree of perfection of the instru25 seconds, and for their uniformity, "qui ment. Further than this, as the sounds va jusqu'à la monotonie la plus fati- generally excel in frequency and intengante." The timbre varies very much,sity at the breeding season, it will not be the most common being that of a common unreasonable to regard them-granting, reed-organ or the reed of a flageolet. as we do, that the chirp of the cricket Another pretty frequent timbre resembles that of the largest string of a violoncello, sometimes passing to that of the bourdon of a contra-basso. Some sounds are, however, less sweet, and may have some likeness to the tone of a hurdy-gurdy or rattle, while others are clear and pure, resembling in their timbre those produced by a hautboy, harmonica, or accordion. M. Dufossé would limit the range of sounds produced by the maigres, from the most acute to the deepest, to three or four tones. They have generally a great tendency "to degenerate into a humming sound," either from an excess or from a want of intensity.

and the croak of the frog is each in its way an alluring serenade -as nuptial hymns, or, to use language ascribed to Plutarch, as "deafening epithalamia." ↑ More than this; seeing that the carp, and

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See Retzius' Anatomische Untersuchungen, 1ste Lief. 1ste Abth.: Das Gehörlabyrinth der Knochenfische" (Stockholm, 1872); and the beautiful preparations, made, we believe, by Mr. Charles Stewart, the Curator, in the Museum of St. Thomas' Hospital, London.

Sirens had its origin in the utterances of shoals of † M. Dufossé suggests that the song of the fabled maigres. It is probable that the latus-that "marvei lous morsel," as Athenæus termed it, caught in the

Fretum Siculum to garnish the tables of Roman epicures, was, as Rondelet and Cuvier suggested, none other than the maigre.

319

others of the same family, have given un-, send enuff munny to pay me railwa and mistakable proofs of their aptitude to re- oi wull be wi you." ceive some rudiments of education, and in particular to perceive certain sounds, it can yet be possible that the moral admonitions of a St. Anthony of Padua - by many still regarded as a work of supererogation may, no less than the amorous twang of the vesical zither, after all not have fallen upon totally deaf ears.

From Chambers' Journal.
ECCENTRIC EXHIBITORS.

ities were sent A number of hideous stuffed monstrosdogs with six legs, half-dog, half-cat, cats with three heads, calves with six eyes, four eyes, and numerous other lusus naturæ; but the office of the Exhibition had not been open many months when an American gentleman called to make a proposition of a still more "advanced" description. He was the fortunate possessor of the embalmed body of Julia Pastrana creature, half-babcon, half-woman-who -a poor created a sensation in England a few rangements might be made with the years before; and he thought that arCommissioners to show this dead wonder at sixpence a head. He seemed much astounded when his offer was refused.

THE International Exhibition at South Kensington has this year produced very little effect upon the public mind. The novelty of such exhibitions is gone, and the panderers to the public taste for something new have introduced shows, donkey shows, and even exhibi- cure the identical shirt that Charles I. cat A lady wrote to say that she could protions of bar-maids. King Koffee's um- was executed in. It was composed of brella, exhibited at the South Kensington the finest possible cambric, most elabMuseum, has received the palm in pop-orately worked, and had been handed ular estimation, partly because of its down to her from early ancestors; but cumbrous, unscientific formation, but unfortunately it was then in the hands of more probably on account of its novelty, the pawnbroker, who had advanced ten and of the parade made about it in the newspapers as the greatest trophy of the Ashantee war. It has, however, been suggested that the eccentric exhibitors whose articles were rejected in the great International Exhibition of 1862, should now have an opportunity of showing to the world the wonders of their imagination or the peculiarities of their mind; board on which only black marks were Another lady sent a large sheet of cardand though with no desire to further this visible, without any outline that could be object, we give a few of the proposed understood. She wrote: "This gentlecontributions rejected by the Commis-man is done with charcoal charcoal, no sioners of the 1862 Exhibition.

A lady sent a stuffed cat which she said lived to be fourteen years of age, and was known to have killed during his life 3270 rats. It followed its mistress for miles, and would seize a rabbit now and then, and place it at her feet.

pounds upon it. If she could receive this sum, and a further amount sufficient to buy a glass case for it, this would prove one of the greatest attractions in the Exhibition, and show how superior was the needle-work of that age to any produced at the present time.

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want it exhibited, to show to the world
drawing-pencil, simply charred wood. I
that woman's mind is superior to circum-
stances, and that I, a woman without
means, am superior to Michael Angelo."
The Commissioners sent it back with the
space."
curt remark: "With thanks; but no

A man dating from Willenhall, Staffordshire, whose name we wrote as follows: "Oi dont no if hane-time withhold, A man who was evidently ahead of the mals is to be showd but if they be, oi got cremation-wished to exhibit an apparafor no one had then talked about a dog, a bull dog, has ansom has paant tus by which a hundred pounds of animal and he wul kill rots again ony hanimal matter could be reduced to dust by six the furrinners can bring - and there be pounds of charcoal, in a few hours, withchaps here has will fund money to back out causing an offensive smell. em - All oi wants his a chance at thim he said, labelling a small packet containfurrinners if they be goin to bring dogs ing a few ounces of dust, "is all that reThis," oi must bring em mysel and if you be mains of a large dog." The Commissionready oi am - he as kilt 60 rots in 20 ers were at a loss to see the utility of his minuts and that as moor on ony furrinner invention at that period, and therefore can do you be save on backing a me refused to allow him space.

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