442 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



use as a bait, as its brilliant silvery appearance, and its great 

 tenacity of life, rendered it peculiarly lit for the capture of the 

 voracious but dainty turbot, who, rejecting all stale or dis- 

 coloured baits, eagerly devours them if bright coloured and 

 moving. The fishermen state that the turbot \vill not touch 

 a bait that has been bitten by any other fish. On the English 

 coasts one turbot-line frequently extends for three miles in 

 length, and is furnished with ^500 hooks, which are attached 

 to the main line by small horse-hair lines, each twenty-seven 

 inches in length. This enormous line is " shot" across the 

 current at the turn of the tide. Each boat possesses a double 

 set of lines, so that one line is "shot" and another "hauled" 

 every turn of the tide. 



The little star-like bones imbedded in the upper part of the 

 skin of this fish are very curious. The dark side of the turbot 

 is the left, on which the eyes are also placed. Reversed 

 turbots, and even turbots dark on both sides, are not at all 

 uncommon. 



SOLEA. (Lat. the Sole of a shoe.) 



Vulgaris (Lat. common), the Sole. 



The COMMON SOLE is too well known to need much descrip- 

 tion. This fish is the reverse of the turbot, having the eyes 

 and colour on the right side ; although, as in the turbot, 

 varieties are not rare. It is in season during most parts of 



