242 DIAGNOSIS OF SPKAT FROM HERRING. 



9tli. In the sprat the teeth in the lower jaw are so 

 small as to be hardly apparent to the touch, whereas in 

 the youiig herring the teeth are easily distinguished. 



10th. In the herring there are 56 vertebrae, in the 

 sprat 48. 



The foregoing are the structural differences between 

 the sprat and the herring. Besides this, the difference 

 may be readily distinguished by the senses of smell 

 and taste. 



Thus there are three senses by which the sprat may 

 be diagnosed from a young herring, viz., touch, smell, 

 and taste. 



1st, Touch. — As already stated, if the belly of a sprat 

 be gently tested by the finger, the direction of the 

 movement being from the tail towards the head, it will 

 be found that the forward progress of the finger is 

 arrested by spines projecting from the belly. These 

 spines are so sharp that if the test be made with the 

 tongue they will lacerate it. If this row of spines be 

 cut oft' and dried, it will be perceived that they are 29 

 in number. Commencing under the gills they are 

 short and overlap each other. They become more 

 prominent towards the ventral fin, and are largest im- 

 mediately behind that fin. If the row of spines just 

 cut oft" be gently boiled, it will be perceived that this 

 armature of spines is formed of separate plates, each 

 spine being fixed in the centre of a thin plate of bone ; 

 these plates may be said to resemble flies with their 

 wings open, the head of the fly being represented bj^ a 

 sharp needle-like point. 



2nd, Smell. — The sense of smell is one of the most 

 serviceable of all the senses to a human being ; par- 

 ticularly is it useful as regards matters of food. When 

 a sprat is placed on the fire, the smell of the flesh of 

 the sprat burning is much more savoury and api^etising 



