[11] SCIENTIFIC EXAMINATION OF THE GEEMAN SEAS. 535 



who have a keen eye for the life of fish, are the best aids to the scien- 

 tific investigator. 



People who wish to communicate to each other details of one and the 

 same subject must converse in a language which both of them under- 

 stand. 



The ichthyologist will quicker learn the language of the fisherman 

 than the fisherman the language of the ichthyologist, for the latter will 

 speak of matters connected with the life of fish which the fisherman 

 either does not know at all, or very imperfectly, because he knows the 

 fish only by the various characteristics exhibited by them during the 

 fishing season, and by their flavor and market price. The fisherman, 

 however, can easily understand everything in the language of the ich- 

 thyologist which is necessary for aiding the latter in his endeavors to 

 gain an insight into the life of fish, provided the scientist makes his de- 

 scriptions of the fish of such a nature that a practical man, without any 

 higher education, can easily understand them. We will make this at- 

 tempt by giving some information regarding the nature and mode of 

 life of the herring. What we are going to say will not have as its im- 

 mediate consequence a considerable increase in the number of fish caught 

 by the fishermen or higher market prices ; but we are of opinion that 

 every fisherman who is proud of his trade, and who takes pleasure in 

 it, will gladly embrace every opportunity of becoming better acquainted 

 with that class of animals with which he comes in constant contact, and 

 which are the support of himself and his family. By all new informa- 

 tion regarding them his attention to their life and its various phenomena 

 becomes sharpened. He learns to observe them from new points of view, 

 of which he had never thought before, and thereby he gains a firmer 

 basis for a better and more profitable way of carrying on his trade. 



1. — Observations on the structure of the herring. 



The herring is a good swimmer, and, like all fish having a broad back, 

 can move forward very rapidly. This broad back FlG - i--secUonqf a herring. 

 is produced by the thick masses of flesh on both 

 sides of the body, which are separated by the back- 

 bone and the ribs. In Fig. I these masses of flesh IIIIIIS^I-^ 

 and the large side-muscles are shown cut across. ,. 

 Every side-muscle consists of two portions, an up- $&._ 

 per one (oM) and a lower one (uM), composed 

 of fine fibers, which can easily be observed in eat- 

 ing a smoked herring. These fibers exercise col- 

 lectively the strong motive power which the her- . 



v ° - 1 B, large artery underneath 



ring exercises when swimming. If the fibers of* he backbone; d, intestinal 



CT ° tube ; G cl, ovaries ; oM, upper 



the left side-muscle are shortened, the back part of portion of tbe large side-mus- 



' , ., . cle; ii M, lower portion of the 



the body bends towards the left; whilst if the large side-muscie ; ]sr, kidneys; 



.-,,., ,. , Tii-i , Em, spinal marrow ; Sch, swun- 



nght side-muscle is shortened, the back part of ming bladder. 



the body bends towards the right. And if these bending movements 



