ACANTHOPTERYGH. 333 



the month of August. All along the coast of Languedoc, the 

 fishery takes place in June, July, and August. At St. Tropes, 

 and Frejus, in Provence, they are found from the month of 

 May, and sometimes as late as October. M. Risso assures 

 us that they constitute abundant fisheries in spring, in the 

 neighbourhood of Nice. Even in the Black Sea, along the 

 coasts of the Taurica Chersonesus, large troops of them make 

 their appearance in spring and during the summer, all the 

 individuals of which, even the smallest, are full of eggs or 

 milt. They come from the west, and the sea-birds, attracted 

 probably by the brilliancy of their colour, follow them and 

 make them their prey. They do not penetrate into the sea of 

 Azof. They proceed, moreover, farther south than the Straits 

 of Gibraltar, for some were brought by Adanson from the 

 Canaries. None, however, have been seen from a more 

 southern latitude. 



In general in the Mediterranean, the mackerel is small and 

 dry, and is considered inferior to that which is found in the 

 ocean and British Channel ; but M. Cuvier suspects that this 

 evil reputation is owing to two other species being mistaken 

 for it, which have natatory bladders, and which we shall pre- 

 sently notice.. 



The name of mackerel (macarellus), is found in Albertus 

 Magnus, and in Arnaud de Villeneuve. Authors are not 

 agreed concerning its etymology. Some derive it from macu- 

 larius or macular iolus, in consequence of its spots ; others 

 from [jLciKapiog, in consequence of its goodness. But there is 

 no likelihood that a word used at all times in the remotest 

 parts of the north should be derived from any southern 

 language ; more particularly as in most of the ports of the 

 south this word is not known. 



Among the fish which the ancients were accustomed to 

 salt, there were some small species known by the name of 



