298 THE SOLE. [CHAP, vir. 



The best-known fish of the Pleuronectidoe is the sole (Solea 

 vulgaris), which is largely distributed in all our seas, and 

 used in immense quantities in London and elsewhere. The 

 sole is too well known to require any description at my 

 hands. It is caught by means of the trawl-net, and is in 

 good season for a great number of months. Soles of a 

 moderate weight are best for the table. I prefer such as 

 weigh from three to five pounds per pair. I have been told, 

 by those who ought to know best, that the deeper the water 

 from which it is taken the better the sole. It is quite a 

 ground fish, and inhabits the sandy places round the coast, 

 feeding on the minor Crustacea, and on the spawn and young 

 of various kinds of fish. Good supplies of this popular fish 

 are taken on the west coast of England, and they are said to 

 be very plentiful in the Irish seas ; indeed all kinds of fish 

 are said to inhabit the waters that surround the Emerald Isle. 

 There can be no doubt of this, at any rate, that the fishing 

 on the Irish coasts has never been so vigorously prosecuted 

 as on the coasts of Scotland and England so that there has 

 been a greater chance for the best kinds of white fish to 

 thrive and multiply. Seaside visitors would do well to go on 

 board some of the trawlers and observe the mode of capture. 

 There is no more interesting way of passing a seaside holiday 

 than to watch or take a slight share in the industry of the 

 neighbourhood where one may be located. 



The smaller varieties of the flat fish such as Muller's 

 top -knot, the flounder, whiff, dab, plaice, etc. I need not 

 particularly notice, except to say that immense quantities of 

 them are annually consumed in London and other cities. Mr. 

 Mayhew, in some of his investigations, found out that up- 

 wards of 33,000,000 of plaice were annually required to aid the 

 London commissariat ! But that is nothing. Three times 

 that quantity of soles are needed one would fancy this to 

 be a statistic of shoe-leather the exact figure given by Mr. 



