108 MALACOP. ABDOM. HERRING FAMILY. 



the first dorsal, the head dips considerably, as the 

 fin is placed behind the centre of gravity ; if the 

 Pilchard be suspended in the same manner, the 

 body preserves its equilibrium, as the dorsal fin 

 occupies exactly the centre of gravity. The Pil- 

 chard is by no means of such general occurrence 

 along our coasts as the Herring, and it seems to be 

 gradually restricting its range of late years. About 

 thirty years ago it was plentiful in the Firth of 

 Forth, but since 1816 it has almost entirely disap- 

 peared from that estuary, and is very seldom found 

 on any of the Scottish coasts. A few are sometimes 

 taken off Dunbar and Berwick. The eastern coast 

 of England is not more highly favoured than more 

 northern localities, although a few stragglers are 

 occasionally captured in different places. The truth 

 is, that the northern range of this fish on the east 

 side of the island seldom extends beyond Dover 

 Straits, and on the west side rarely beyond the pa- 

 rallel of the southern extremity of Ireland. A Pil- 

 chard fishery has been long established in Bantry 

 Bay, County of Cork. Tlie grand resort of this fish 

 is the coast of Cornwall, where they are found at all 

 seasons of the year, and w^here a most extensive 

 fishery is carried on. The following notices are 

 chiefly derived from Mr. Yarrell's work on fishes, 

 who received a long and interesting account of the 

 Pilchard fishery from IMr. Couch, a gentleman long 

 resident on the coast of Cornwall, and so often 

 already alluded to in these volumes for his intimate 

 acquaintance with Ichthyology. 



