CHAP, vr.] THE SPRAT. 239 



receive the roe ; shoals may of course accidentally spawn 011 

 soft ground. It is not accurately known how long a period 

 elapses till the spawn ripens into life. I think, however, 

 that herring spawn requires a period of about six weeks to 

 ripen. It is known that young herrings have appeared on a 

 spawning ground in myriads within fifty days after the depar- 

 ture of a shoal, and fishermen say that no spawn can be found 

 on the ground after the lapse of a few weeks from the visit of 

 the gravid shoal that the eggs in fact have come to life, and 

 that the fish are swimming about ; and some fishermen assert 

 that the little whitebait is the herring in its first stage. 



It is generally known that the sprat (Clupea sprattus) is a 

 most abundant fish, so plentiful as to have been used at times 

 for manure. The fact of its great abundance has induced a 

 belief that it is not a distinct species of fish, but is, in reality, 

 the young of the herring. It is true that many distinguishing 

 marks are pointed out as belonging only to the sprat such as 

 its serrated belly, the relative position of the fins, etc. But 

 there remains, on the other side, the very striking fact of the 

 sprat being rarely found with either milt or roe ; indeed, the 

 only case I know of this fish having been found in a condition 

 to perpetuate its species was detailed by the late Mr. Mitchell, 

 Belgian Consul at Leith, who exhibited before one of the 

 learned societies of Edinburgh a pair of sprats having the roe 

 and milt fully developed. Dr. Dod, an ancient anatomist, 

 says : " It is evident that sprats are young herrings. They ap- 

 pear immediately after the herrings are gone, and seem to be 

 the spawn just vivified, if I may use the expression. A more 

 undeniable proof of their being so is in their anatomy ; since, 

 on the closest search, no difference but size can be found be- 

 tween them." After the nonsense which was at one time 

 written about the parr, and considering the anomalies of 

 salmon growth, it would be unsafe to dogmatise on the sprat 

 question. As to the serrated belly, we might look upon it as 



