MALACOPTERYGII ABDOMINALES. 479 



they could observe or procure with facility, and the herrings 

 are not among the number of those. This fish, therefore, is 

 neither the halec or halex, nor the mamis, nor the buco- 

 mcenis, nor the gerris of Pliny. The fiaivlg of Aristotle, 

 named alec by Gaza, and the mama of Pliny belong to the 

 menides of the " Animal Kingdom." The herring appears 

 to have been an article of food in France as far back as the 

 thirteenth century. 



The Clupea alosa (shad) is a much larger fish than the 

 herring, attaining nearly three feet in length, but as it is 

 very thin its weight is seldom more than four pounds. 



The shads inhabit the North Atlantic, the Mediterranean, 

 and Caspian Seas. In spring they ascend into the great 

 rivers, such as the Volga, the Elbe, the Rhine, the Seine, the 

 Loire, the Garonne, &c, forming numerous troops, which 

 sometimes advance to the sources of these rivers. Their 

 numbers vary much from one year to another. Thus in the 

 lower Seine thirteen or fourteen thousand shads are taken in 

 certain years, and in others not more than from five hundred 

 to two thousand. 



When they try to escape they agitate themselves violently, 

 and make a noise which may be heard at a considerable dis- 

 tance. They live on worms, insects, and small fishes. 



It is asserted that they are terrified by thunder, and violent 

 noises in general ; nevertheless, fishermen, and more espe- 

 cially those of the Mediterranean, are persuaded that they are 

 fond of music, and accordingly they employ musical instru- 

 ments when they go in search of these fish : in certain rivers 

 they attach small bells to their boats. This prejudice, in all 

 probability, saves numbers of the shads. Rondelet, however, 

 tells us that he saw some of them come to the sound of the 

 lute, and leap and swim towards the surface of the water. 

 The Loire is the river of France in which they most abound, 



