182 PLAICE. 



thus known, as an ordinary occurrence, that a great difference 

 of price has existed between marine animals caught within a 

 few miles of each other; and fishermen are quick to discern 

 this in the appearance of fishes which are taken at different 

 stations in the sea. 



In the seas of Europe the Plaice is found considerably 

 toward the north, so that it is known along the coasts of 

 Sweden, and in the Baltic. It is also met with in the 

 Mediterranean; but it is nowhere in greater plenty than in 

 a moderate depth of water round the British Islands, where it 

 forms an important object of the trawl fishery; and we are 

 informed that the enormous number of thirty-eight millions of 

 these fishes has formed the usual yearly supply to the markets 

 of London. It is probable, however, that this amount is now 

 greatly reduced, as I am informed by an old fisherman that 

 so long since as the year 1833 the numbers taken by him on 

 the coast of Cornwall had much fallen off from the time of 

 his early experience. This large deficiency in his gains is 

 ascribed to the destruction of the young and embryo fish, as 

 well as of the fishing-ground and food, by the increased 

 practice of trawling. 



This fish, in common with several others of the same family, 

 is taken with a line, and also with the spiller; the latter 

 being, in fact, a representation on a small scale, as regards 

 the hooks and snoozing, of the bultey or long line already 

 described; the bait being the common worm of the beach, or 

 shell-fish deprived of its shell, and the situation for the fishery 

 some sheltered sandy bay where it may remain safe from 

 interruption. 



The Plaice sheds its spawn in spring; and Lacepede gives, 

 on the authority of a friend, a curious account of the hatching 

 of the young, which we copy, without being able to vouch 

 for its accuracy or probability, as he also confesses for himself; 

 but his final opinion is worthy of notice, as it may account 

 for the conveyance of some kinds of fishes into situations 

 where, under other circumstances, we could scarcely suppose 

 they would be found. For a long time, says this author, the 

 opinion has been held, as well in England as in France, that 

 the Plaice is produced from a small crustacean animal of the 

 shrimp kind; and it became the wish of Dr. Deslandes to 



