132 ACANTHOPTERYGII. SCOMBRID^. 



fish is now taken, even on some parts of our own 

 coast, in every month of the year. It is probable 

 that the Mackerel inhabits almost the whole of 

 the European seas ; and the law of Nature, which 

 obliges them and many others to visit the shal- 

 lower water of the shores at a particular season, 

 appears to be one of those wise and bountiful 

 provisions of the Creator, by which, not only is 

 the species perpetuated with the greatest cer- 

 tainty, but a large portion of the parent animals 

 are thus brought within the reach of man ; who 

 but for the action of this law, would be deprived 

 of many of those species most valuable to him 

 as food. For the Mackerel, dispersed over the 

 immense surface of the deep, no efifective fishery 

 could be carried on ; but, approaching the shore 

 as they do, from all directions, and roving along 

 the coast, collected in immense shoals, myriads 

 are caught, which yet form but a very small 

 portion compared with the millions that escape. 



" It may be observed, farther, that, as there is 

 scarcely a month throughout the year, in which 

 the fishes of some one or more species are not 

 brought within the reach of man, by the opera- 

 tion of the imperative law of Nature referred to, 

 a constant succession of wholesome food is thus 

 spread before him, which, in the first instance, 

 costs him but little beyond the exercise of his 

 ingenuity and labour to obtain."* 



It is said of the Char, a beautiful member of 

 the Salmon family inhabiting our m.ountain lakes, 

 and the fact is cited by the distinguished zoo- 

 logist last mentioned, in confirmation of this 

 hypothesis, that when it spawns, it is seen in the 

 * British Fishes, i. 1 38. 



