Fishes are caught in greatest abundance before sunrise and after
sunset, or, speaking generally, just about sunset and sunrise.
Fishermen haul up their nets at these times, and speak of the hauls
then made as the 'nick-of-time' hauls. The fact is, that at these
times fishes are particularly weak-sighted; at night they are at rest,
and as the light grows stronger they see comparatively well.
We know of no pestilential malady attacking fishes, such as
those which attack man, and horses and oxen among the quadrupedal
vivipara, and certain species of other genera, domesticated and
wild; but fishes do seem to suffer from sickness; and fishermen
infer this from the fact that at times fishes in poor condition, and
looking as though they were sick, and of altered colour, are caught in
a large haul of well-conditioned fish of their own species. So much
for sea-fishes.
20
River-fish and lake-fish also are exempt from diseases of a
pestilential character, but certain species are subject to special and
peculiar maladies. For instance, the sheat-fish just before the rising
of the Dog-star, owing to its swimming near the surface of the
water, is liable to sunstroke, and is paralysed by a loud peal of
thunder.
Pages:
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467