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CHAPTER, XXXVI. 
THE HERRING. 
THE constant demand made upon the boundless resources of the 
sea, yields every year to fishermen an enormous income. It is 
said that the product of our English fisheries amounts to no less 
than 60,000,000 sterling. A large proportion of this immense sum 
is yielded by the herring, a fish so common, that it is unnecessary 
to describe it, for every one has seen it, if not in its native element, 
at any rate, in its dried and salted condition. The dark blue of 
the back, the silver of the belly, only need a little freshening, and 
the fish as it was taken out of the water is easily imagined. 
THE HEAD OF A HERRING, 
(Clufea harengus.) 
The herrings congregate in shoals so immense, that their 
number defies all calculation. At certain times of the year, they 
leave the northern seas and descend upon the coasts of Europe. 
Philippe de Maiziéres wrote to Charles VI.—“ The herrings in 
their passage from the North Sea into the Baltic, during the 
months of September and October, are in such numbers, that 
they may be cut with a sword.” 
The herrings glide rapidly upon the surface of the water, and 
the light flung back by their scales seems reflected from bands 
of nacre or strips of burnished metal, contrasting pleasingly with 
the azure of the sea, and covering the whole surface with a 
glimmering light. 
From our engraving, it will be seen that the lower jaw of the 
herring protrudes a little beyond the upper, both being furnished 
