THE HERRING. 445 



Fishermen distinguish four states of the herring. Fry or sile, when 

 not larger than sprats ; ihaties, when larger than this, with undevel- 

 oped roe or milt ; full fish, with largely developed roe or milt ; and 

 spent or shotten fish, which have recently spawned. 



Herring-fry of the size of sprats are distinguished from full fish not 

 merely by their size, but, in addition, by the very slight development of 

 the milt or roe, and by the accumulation of fat in the abdominal cavity. 

 Bands of fat are found in the mesentery alongside the intestine, and 

 filling up the interspaces between the pyloric caeca. 



Maties (the name * of which is a corruption of the Dutch word for 

 a maiden) resemble the fry in these particulars ; but, if they are well 

 fed, the deposit of fatty and other nutritive matter takes place, not 

 only about the abdominal viscera, but also beneath the skin and in the 

 interstices of the flesh. Indeed, when nourishment is abundant, this 

 infiltration of the flesh with fat may go so far that the fish can not 

 readily be preserved and must be eaten fresh. The singularly delicate 

 Loch Fyne herrings are in this condition early in the season. When 

 the small crustaceans, on which the maties chiefly feed, are extremely 

 abundant the fish gorge themselves with them to such an extent that 

 the conical crop becomes completely distended, and the Scotch fisher- 

 ermen give them the name of " gut-pock " herrings, as much as to say 

 pouch-gutted fish, and an absurd notion is current that these herrings 

 are diseased. However, the " gut-pock " herrings differ from the rest 

 only in having their jjouch full instead of empty, as it commonly is. 



As the fish passes from the matie to the full condition, the milt and 

 roe begin to grow at the expense of the nutriment thus stored up ; 

 and, as these organs become larger and occupy more and more space 

 in the abdominal cavity, the excess of nutritious substance is trans- 

 ferred to them. The fatty deposit about the intestine and pyloric caeca 

 gradually disappears and the flesh becomes poorer. It would appear 

 that by degrees the fish cease to feed at all. At any rate, there is 

 usually no food in the stomach of a herring which approaches matu- 

 rity. In all these respects there is the closest resemblance between the 

 history of the herring and that of other fishes such as the salmon the 

 parr corresponding to the herring-fry or sile, the grilse and the " clean 

 fish " of larger size to the maties. 



At length spawning takes place, the accumulated nutrition, trans- 

 formed into eggs or spermatic fluid, is expelled, and the fish is left in 



full herrings ready to spawn, only 100-110 millimetres (four to four and a half inches) 

 long, as observed by himself. 



* " Halecum intestina, non modo multa gaudere obesitate, sed et totum corpus eo adeo 

 esse impletum ut aliquando, cum discinditur, pinguedo ex cultro defluat, et praesertim eo 

 quidem tempore ubi halecum lactes aut ova crescere primum incipiunt, unde nostrates eos 

 3faatgem-Haringen dicere solent." A. v. Leeuwenhoek, " Arcana Natural," Ep. xcvii 

 (1696). 



Leeuwenhoek also mentions having heard of " gut-pock " herrings from Scotch fish- 

 ermen. 



