listens for the peculiar sounds which, the
fishes make in breathing. Having selected
a part in which these sounds are heard so
frequently as to afford a prospect of catching
a considerable number, he proceeds to
remove the sod from a few circular patches,
each about three feet in diameter, in those
places in which there already exist small
holes in the sod, which the fishes frequent
for the purpose of breathing. When that
is done, he returns home for the night. On
our reaching the fishing ground in the
morning, operations were commenced by
making a kind of enclosure to cut off from
the rest of the swamp that portion in which
the circular patches had been cleared of sod
the night before. This was done by breaking
the sod in a narrow line encompassing
the space which it was intended to enclose,
and trampling a portion of it down to the
more solid mud at the bottom. The long
grass, which is thus carried down, makes a
kind of fence, which is supposed to confine
the fishes, but which one can hardly suppose
to be very efficacious, as they would have
but little difficulty, if so inclined, in making
their way through it. When this is done,
the diluted mud in the holes that have been
opened over night is thickened by mixing
it with some of the more solid mud, or peat,
scooped up from beneath. Some of the
long grass which grows on the surface is
then laid over the thickened mud in two
strata, the stalks of which the one is
composed being at right angles with those
composing the other. The whole is finished
off with a coating of mud. Nothing then
remains to be done but to watch for the
appearance of the fishes. The first indication
of their presence is the rising of bubbles of
air, and in each instance when these bubbles
appeared, the natives who were standing
by named correctly the species of fishes by
which they were emitted, being guided
probably by their size, and by their coming up
singly or in larger numbers. After a bubble
of air has appeared, but a short time elapses
before the head of the fish appears protruding
above the surface of the mud. There
is no difficulty in securing a fish when he
shows himself in this way, as the blades of
grass, which have been arranged so as to
cross each other beneath the surface of the
mud, form a net through which he cannot
easily force his way back. I remained
watching the process for about an hour,
during which I saw eleven fishes taken, and
the natives told me that as the day advanced
larger fishes would be caught, and in greater
numbers. None of those I saw taken were
large. They were of three species: connia
(ophiocephalus kelaarti), magoora, and
hoonga (clarias taysmanii). It is obvious
that this mode of catching the fishes is
entirely based upon the fact that they cannot
breathe water, but are forced to ascend at
stated intervals to the surface to breathe
atmospheric air—a fact which I afterwards
verified by drowning two or three
specimens by inverting a net over them."

In 1866, when engaged in carrying out
experiments by order of government, on the
introduction of fishes from the plains to the
waters of the Neilgherry Hills, Dr. Day
ascertained that the walking fishes and
some other genera could be carried for long
distances in water mixed with mud; whereas
if the water were pure, they soon died.
The solution of this apparently remarkable
phenomenon, as afforded by a series of
ingenious experiments which he subsequently
made, shows that these fishes respire
air directly from the atmosphere and not
through the gills, and that, therefore, the
muddy water does not pass through those
organs; and, further, that the mud is of
direct service towards decreasing the
agitation to which the fishes were exposed when
travelling in vessels containing clear water.
The following are brief descriptions of his
chief experiments:

No. 1. Three walking fishes were placed
in a vessel, containing fresh water, and were
prevented reaching the surface by a
diaphragm of net. At the end of four minutes
they all became excited and tried to reach
the surface. The largest and strongest
fish only lived one hour and twenty-eight
minutes, the others dying some minutes
earlier. On opening their gill covers under
water and pressing the gills, no air escaped.

No. 2. Three similar fishes were then
placed in the same vessel as that in which
the others had died, the water not having
been removed, but the diaphragm being
now placed an inch above the water, while
it was previously an inch below it. These
fishes were taken out in ten hours quite well
and lively.

No. 3. Three water breathers and three
loaches were placed in the same vessel
prepared as in the first experiment. The
water breathers remained unaffected, but
the loaches died in eight hours. The reason
why the latter lived so long, is due to this
species (platacanthus agrensis) having a
receptacle for air in the first vertebra at
the base of the skull.

No. 4. Three specimens of walking fishes
were then placed on some wet grass in an