THE MENTAL LIFE OF FISHES
343
be said to live on hopes of future favours, which implies
memory of good things in the past. The little Pilot shes
_
attach themselves to a big wandering.Shark and conduct it
to food by means known only to
It .is not
to share in the crumbs, -for theyare quite able to
catch small shes for themselves; - it seems more a feelingof
prôtection or perhaps an attraction to something bigger
than themselves.
What sort of languagethey use in com—
municating their' wishes and .discoveries to their comrade is
not known, but many witnesses have testied to the fact of
the communications.
The F reg—sh (Lophius) which lies
in wait and lures on its prey, must have learnt to exercise as
much patience and having learnt’it, retained it in memory,
_
like the mOst experienced angler for Trout.
_
,.
=
,
The cleverness of the coinmon—Eel is almost unCànny.
Not only can it Climb slipperyposts and wander over elds
_
without the aid of ventral ns or legs, it shows a remarkable
sense of kriowing what it wants.
.
ReCently,
found
that an Eel placed in a tank of thefaquarium inthÏe Zoological
Gardens, London, had managed toç escape.ç., It was "dis—
covered in a tank somedistance away and'replàced .inthe
original one. A'few days later itwas again-missingand
againfound in .the same tank ;. being evidently so decided-in
—
itsp‘refereŒes, it was alloWed to
there. ;
”
_
pasSed another tank onÏthe Way—, it ;must—have hadsomé idea
head.
.
Still
the—Way.- it gets outfof a
_
tank.
If it cannot :squirmrsup the side
round-and throwsits tail; over the
a hold and
body UP
-?
'
'
'
It was a corhmosbelief among
? the country people of
Sweden,’that the
food,
and the
_
When
over the Î=€ldS,‘… and Smitt describes how
_
Special efforts, based on this.=hetbit
Most authors,
are sceptica‘l about {SuCh‘st6ries, but
.
,
Smitt, usually very-« eàreful tov
fact and,
fancy; comes ,to the ,conclùsio“thàt
on‘e
-
cannot be ïrejected; à:Thereis
does
,
_
eat vegiatable food. and
rather,
_