PISCES. 209 



especially abundant in various parts of the Mediterranean. It is distin- 

 guished, as a genus, by the projecting and pointed upper jaw, and the long 

 anal. The top of the head and back is blue ; irids, sides, and belly, 

 silvery white. This fish was well known to the ancient Gi'eeks and 

 Romans, who prepared from it a sauce called garicm, held in great favor. 

 They are taken in countless numbers on the coast of Sardinia, 400,000 

 having been caught at a single haul. The fishing is highly successful by 

 night, when the anchovies are readily attracted by the glare of fire-pans. 

 In preparing them for purposes of commerce the head and viscera must be 

 removed ; the former being bitter, and for this reason called Encrassicholus 

 by Aristotle. The anchovies, after being washed clean, are placed with 

 the belly upwards in vessels, a layer of fish alternating with one of salt, 

 until the whole is full. Pressure must be exerted to drive out the oil as 

 much as possible. A hole is left in the top of the vessel, which is then 

 exposed to the sun. After fermentation has commenced, the hole is 

 stopped up, and the vessel removed to a store-house. The operation is not 

 completed until the following year. The anchovy is taken from December 

 to May. 



The Clupeidce, with non-projecting upper jaws, are divided into various 

 genera, as Clupea, Sardinella, Harxngula, Pellona, Meletta, Alosa, and 

 others. A distinction was formerly made between a genus Alosa, charac- 

 terized by an emargination of the upper jaw, and Clupea, with the border 

 of the jaw continuous or entire. This division, however, has been found to 

 be inadequate to the wants of the present system. 



Alosa vulgaris, a European species, figured in pi. 81, ßg. 1, is repre- 

 sented in America by one of much finer flavor, the A. sapidisshna, or 

 common American shad. This well known species commences its entrance 

 into our rivers, at periods varying from January to May, according to the 

 latitude. It penetrates all the Atlantic streams, and when unobstructed by 

 dams or other impediments, travels to a considerable distance from the 

 mouth for the purpose of depositing its spawn. They are taken in great 

 numbers, especially in Chesapeake and Delaware bays, by various means, 

 the most conspicuous of which are large seines and gill nets. The price 

 varies from five to fifty dollars per hundred, according to the abundance or 

 size. As already remarked, various herrings occur in immense numbers. 

 Conspicuous among European species, in this respect, is the sprat, Harengula 

 sprattus {pi. 81, fig. 4) ; but vastly more so the common herring, Clupea 

 harengus (pi. 81, fig. 2). The true abode of the immense hordes of herring 

 is not, even at this day, definitely ascertained, the fish being scarcely known, 

 except in its wanderings. Some naturalists suppose it to come from the 

 high north to deposit its spawn upon the shores of the North Sea ; others, 

 again, consider the bottom of the North Sea to be its home, since it is first 

 visible at the Shetland Islands in April. Here myriads of herrings combine 

 into armies many miles in length, and then pass on to the coasts of Norway, 

 England, Germany, and the Netherlands. From the main army, branches 

 go oflf in various directions, supplying almost the whole coast of Europe, 

 and possibly extend their migrations even to the northern coast of North 



418 



