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DEPARTMENT OF THE NATAL SERVICE 



ing, only be regarded as entirely applicable to the stock in question, and it is of course 

 perfectly justifiable to demand that in dealing with other races of herring, similar 

 data should be sought for before assuming that the conclusions arrived at are equally 

 valid for these. As we shall see later on, the Canadian material, like the Norwegian, 

 does in fact point to the same conclusion, that the winter rings really are an indica- 



Plate VII. 



tion of the age of the fish. At present it will suffice to mention, as briefly as possible, 

 the manner in which the observations were carried out in the case of the Norwegian 

 herring; it should be noted, however, that corresponding features have been observed 

 in the case of other stocks of herring, e. g., those of the Faeroes. 



In the course of the year 1910, the young herring which were continually taken 

 in the neighbourhood of Bergen were subjected to observation (vide Lea, X). It was 

 then found that the outermost summer zone on the scales, which in May was extremely 



