MOVEMENTS OF THE HERRING. 553 



migrations; but the proper homes even of the sea Herrings are the deep valleys on the bottom of 

 the sea near the coast (Axel Boeck). 



" 2. The theory of a sea race of Herrings, considering the Herring as a surface fish. This 

 theory is also subdivided : 



"a. Some deny the occurrence of more than one race of Herrings in one and the same place, 

 the difference between coast Herrings and sea Herrings (littoral and pelagian Herrings) and regular 

 migrations (Cr. O. Sars). 



"b. Others maintain that there is a relative difference between coast Herrings and sea Her- 

 rings, that more than one race of Herrings may be found in one and the same place, and that the 

 great schools of Herrings migrate regularly (A. V. Ljuugman)." ' 



This table is quoted as an illustration of the uncertainty which even to the present time exists 

 concerning the migrations of this fish an uncertainty which in all probability will never be 

 removed. It is safe, however, to say that the theories enumerated in catalogue a had been long 

 since abandoned by all scientific thinkers. The views of Sars and Ljungman that the Herring is 

 practically a surface fish, not usually descending to great depth, perhaps never more than one 

 hundred fathoms below the surface, are supported by many arguments of analogy; at any rate, 

 they agree with what many investigators believe to be true concerning certain fish with some 

 similar habits, such as the mackerel and menhaden. On the other hand, Herrings are known to 

 occur off' the Newfoundland coast, according to Mr. Earll, at a depth of fully one hundred fathoms, 

 and there is no reason why they may not descend to still greater depths. 



"If you read," writes Professor Huxley, "any old and some new books on the natural history 

 of the Herring, you will find a wonderful story about the movements of these shoals: how they 

 start from their home in the Polar Seas, and march south as a great armada which splits into 

 minor divisions one destined to spawn on the Scandinavian and one on our own shores; and 

 how, having achieved this spawning raid, the spent fish make their way as fast as they can back 

 to their arctic refuge, there to repair their exhausted frames in domestic security. This story 

 was started in the last century, and was unfortunately adopted and disseminated by our country- 

 man Pennant. But there is not the least proof that anything of the kind takes place, and the 

 probabilities arc wholly against it. It is, for example, quite irreconcilable with the fact that 

 Herring are found in cods' .stomachs all the year around. And the circumstance to which I have 

 already adverted, that practiced eyes distinguish local breeds of Herrings, though it does not 

 actually negative the migration hypothesis, is very much against it. The supposition that the 

 Herring spawn in the north in the early spring, and in the south in the autumn, fitted very well 

 into the notion that the vanguard of the migrating body of Herrings occupied the first spawning 

 ground it reached, and obliged the rest of the horde to pass on. But, as a matter of fact, the 

 northern Herrings, like the southern, have two spawning times; or perhaps it would be more 

 correct to say that the spawning time extends from autumn to spring, and has two maxima one 

 in August-September and one in February-March." 



Discussing the causes of the movements of the Herring schools, Professor Baird in 1877 wrote 

 as follows: 



"Although the movements of the Herring appear to be very capricious, they are doubtless 

 governed as much by well-defined laws as any other portion of creation, although we are vet far 

 from understanding fully the conditions which control their actions. They sometimes frequent a 

 portion of the European coast for many successive years, and then abandon it gradually or sud- 

 denly, presenting themselves usually at the same season in some far remote locality. Sometimes 



'Report United States Fish Commission, part iv, p. 178. 



