150 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [24] 
I know, we possess no picture of these eggs. The statements of the 
fishermen relative to the coler of the eggs seem but little credible. But 
the color of the eggs has, under any circumstances, very little to do with 
the answering of the question, whether the present spring herring are 
the same kind of spring herring as the former ones. I may as well 
say here that the color of the eggs, which is produced by the outer 
shell, differs considerably in the different mature individuals of the 
present kind of spring herring, without any reference to the size of 
the fish. The color is generally light brown, sometimes darker, some- 
times lighter, and occasionally so light that the brown color can hardly 
be distinguished. The color of the eggs doubtless varied in the same 
manner in the former spring herring. In other localities a difference 
of color has likewise been observed in the eggs of one and the same 
kind of herring. 
But few fishermen knew anything of a difference in the character of 
the scales. Some of the specimens of the former spring herring which 
have been preserved in spirits of wine have a more or less well-pre- 
served coat of scales; one specimen, especially, which through the kind- 
ness of Professor Hsmark was loaned to me from the University Museum, 
showed all its scales in a fine state of preservation. In order, however, 
to make this comparison really valuable, I ought to have had speci- 
mens of our present spring herring of the same size as the old ones, and 
also a larger number of these last-mentioned fish. The statements of 
the fishermen relative to the size of the scales seem very doubtful. 
Of all the differences mentioned by the fishermen, only one remains 
to be accounted for, viz: The difference in the development of the roe 
and milt. In our present spring herring the roe and milt are not as 
fully developed, when the fish arrive in our coast waters, as in the 
former ones. The difference, however, is not very great. When our 
present spring herring first became an object of the fisheries (in 1876) 
their roe and milt were, according to the statements of the fishermen, 
still less developed than they are now. 
In the “new herring” the roe and milt were not fully developed 
either, or at any rate there was a great difference between the different 
individuals as regards their degree of development. In some other 
respects the present herring resemble the “new herring.” Like these 
they arrive on the coast very early in the season—differing in this re- 
spect very much from the old spring herring—so that fishing com- 
mences already in the beginning of January. Our present spring her- 
ring also show the same tendency to spread as the “new herring,” and 
finally they were, when the fisheries first commenced, of very different 
size, and, on the whole, somewhat smaller than they are now. Our 
present spring herring are, doubtless, the descendants of the “new 
herring.” In this way all the points of resemblance between the two 
can easily be explained. 
During the season 1869-1870 the “‘new herring” were, as a general 
