Class IV. Pisces... Fishes
Fishes are extremely numerous in species, and many of them are little known. They are found in every ocean, sea, lake, or river,—under the dreary skies of the poles, and the burning latitude of the tropics. Being the tenants of an element which excludes them from the familiar observation of man, we have fewer anecdotes of them than of those classes which we have already noticed. We shall therefore only attempt to present a few of the most striking that have come to our notice.
THE MACKEREL.
The mackerel is one of the most voracious of all fishes; and when they get among a shoal of herrings, they make such havoc as frequently to drive it off the coast. Pontoppidan informs us that a sailor, belonging to a ship lying in a harbor of Norway, went into the water to wash himself, when he was suddenly missed by his companions. In the course of a few minutes, however, he was seen on the surface with vast numbers of mackerels fastened to him. The people went to his assistance in a boat, and tore the fishes from him; but it was too late; for he very shortly afterwards expired from the effects of the wounds he had received, and from the loss of blood.
THE SWORD-FISH.
The extraordinary power of this fish is shown by the following statement, from the Penny Magazine: “In repairing his Britannic majesty’s ship Leopard, in 1725, on her return from the coast of Guinea, a sword of this fish was found to have gone through the sheathing one inch, next through a three-inch plank, and, beyond that, four inches and a half in the firm timber. It was the opinion of mechanics that it would require nine strokes of a hammer weighing twenty-five pounds to drive an iron bolt, of similar size and form, to the same depth in the hull; yet this was accomplished by a single thrust.”
THE PIKE.
Anecdotes.—The rapacity of this fish is notorious. Jesse says, “Out of eight hundred gudgeons, which were brought to me by a Thames fisherman, and which I saw counted into the reservoir,—some few of which, however, died,—there were scarcely any to be seen at the end of three weeks. Indeed, the appetite of one of my pike was almost insatiable. One morning, I threw to him, one after the other, five roach, each about four inches in length. He swallowed four of them, and kept the fifth in his mouth for about a quarter of an hour, when it also disappeared.”
The pike is an animal of extraordinary boldness. A few years ago, the head keeper of Richmond Park was washing his hands at the side of a boat, in the great pond, when a pike made a dart at one of his hands, which the keeper suddenly withdrew, otherwise he would have received a severe snap.
Mr. Jesse says, “Fish appear to be capable of entertaining affection for each other. I once caught a female pike during the spawning season, and nothing could drive the male away from the spot at which the female disappeared, whom he had followed to the very edge of the water. A person who had kept two small fish together in a glass, gave one of them away; the other refused to eat, and showed evident symptoms of unhappiness, till his companion was restored to him.”
In the year 1497, a pike was caught, in standing water, at Heilbronn, on the Neckar, which had a copper ring round its head; the ring bore the following inscription in Greek: “I am the first fish that was launched into this pond, and was thrown in by Frederick the Second, emperor of the Romans, on the 5th of October, 1230.” It appeared, therefore, that the pike was two hundred and fifty-seven years old when thus caught; it weighed three hundred and fifty pounds; and an exact representation of it exists to this day upon one of the gates of Heilbronn.
THE GOLDEN CARP.
This beautiful fish was first introduced into England about the year 1691. It is a native of China, where they are very common in ponds. They are, however, very delicate, and unable to stand the powerful rays of the sun; on which account, in each of the ponds where they are kept, earthenware basins, with holes in them, are placed upside down, so that the fishes may retire under them for shade. In China these fish are taught to rise to the surface of the water, to be fed, at the sound of a bell. In very cold weather, they are frequently taken into the house, to prevent them from being frozen.
There are several varieties of this beautiful fish,—some of them appearing all speckled over with golden dust; others are pure silvery white; some are spotted with red and white; and a fourth variety is black and white, spotted.
Many of these, of a large size, may be seen in the ponds at the royal gardens of the Tuileries, at Paris. They are perfectly tame, and follow individuals round the ponds in hopes of being fed.
THE SALMON.
Some years ago, a herdsman, on a very sultry day in July, while looking for a missing sheep, observed an eagle posted on a bank that overhung a pool. Presently the bird stooped and seized a salmon, and a violent struggle ensued: when the herdsman reached the spot, he found the eagle pulled under water by the strength of the fish; and the calmness of the day, joined to his drenched plumage, rendered him unable to extricate himself. With a stone, the peasant broke the eagle’s pinion, and separated the spoiler from his victim, which was dying in his grasp.
THE HERRING.
About fifty years ago, the shoals of herrings came into Loch Urn, Scotland, in such amazing quantities, that, from the narrows to the head, about two miles, it was quite full. So many of them were forced ashore by the pressure, that the beach, for four miles round the head, was covered with them from six to eighteen inches deep; and the ground under water, as far as could be seen, was in the same condition. Indeed, so dense and forcible was the shoal, as to carry before it every other kind of fish; even ground-fish, skate, flounders, and plaice, were driven on shore with the force of the herrings, and perished there.
It is a curious fact, that herrings die the moment they are taken out of the water; whence originated the adage, which is much used, as dead as a herring.
THE SHARK.
This formidable animal is the dread of mankind in the seas where it is found. There is no safety in bathing where this monster abounds.
The late Sir Brooke Watson was at one time swimming at a little distance from a ship, when he observed a shark approaching towards him. Struck with terror at its appearance, he immediately cried out for assistance. A rope was instantly thrown out for him; and even while the men were in the act of pulling him up the ship’s side, the shark darted after him, and at a single snap derived him of one leg.
In the West Indies, the negroes have frequently the hardihood to engage the shark in single combat, by diving beneath him, and, in ascending, stab him before he sees where they are. In these combats they frequently conquer this formidable creature; and thus, through courage and tactics, overcome his great strength and ferocity.
We come now to the second grand division of the animal kingdom—the Invertebrata Animals—those which, instead of an internal skeleton, have, for the most part, an external shell, or framework, by means of which the fleshy parts are sustained.