of &mmatrtr $atur*. 525 



number of hands employed in these three 

 boats varies from 13 to 18, but may be taken, 

 at an average, at about 16. When the shoals 

 of fish come so near the shore that the water 

 is about the depth of the sean, it is employed 

 to encircle them ; the fishermen being di- 

 rected to proper places for casting or shooting 

 the nets by persons (huers) stationed for that 

 purpose on the cliffs and in the boats. The 

 practice is to row the boat with the sean on 

 board gently round the shoal ; and the sean 

 being, at the same time, thrown gradually 

 into the water, assumes, by means of its buoys 

 and weights, a vertical position, its loaded 

 edge being at the bottom, and the other 

 floating on the surface. Its two ends are 

 then fastened together ; and, being brought 

 into a convenient situation, it is moored by 

 small anchors or grapnels ; sometimes, how- 

 ever, one or two smaller scans are employed 

 to assist in securing the fish. At low water, 

 the enclosed fish are taken out by a tuck net, 

 and carried to the shore. A single sean has 

 been known to enclose at once as many as 

 4,200 hogsheads (1,200 tons) of fish ! But 

 this was the greatest quantity ever taken, 

 and it is but seldom that as many as 1,200 

 hogsheads are caught at a time. The "take," 

 in fact, depends upon so many accidental 

 circumstances, that while one sean may | 

 catch and cure in a season from 1,000 to 

 2.000 hogsheads, others in the neighbourhood ! 

 may not get a single fish. In some places i 

 the tides are so strong as to break the scans, 

 and set the fish at liberty. When the quan- I 

 tity enclosed is large, it requires several days 

 to take them out, as they must not be re- 

 moved in greater numbers than those who 

 salt them can conveniently manage. 



" As soon as the fish are brought on shore, 

 they arc carried to cellars or warehouses, j 

 where they are piled in large heaps, having j 

 a sufficient quantity of salt interspersed be- i 

 tween the layers. Having remained in this ! 

 state for about 3,5 days, they are, after being I 

 carefully washed and cleaned, packed in | 

 hogsheads, each containing, at an average, I 

 about 2,600 fish : they are then subject to a | 

 pressure sufficient to extract the oil, of which \ 

 each hogshead yields, provided the fish be 

 caught in summer, about three gallons ; but 

 those that are taken late in the season do 

 not yield above half this quantity. This oil 

 usually sells for from 12 to 15 per cent, under 

 the price of brown seal oil. The broken and 

 refuse fish and salt are sold to the farmers, 

 and are used as manure with excellent effect. 

 The skimmings which float on the water in 

 which the Pilchards are washed are called 

 dregs, and are chiefly sold as grease for ma- 

 chinery. The sean fishery employs about 

 1,500 hands regularly throughout the season, 

 and a vast number more when any consi 

 derable shoals are inclosed. Four fifths of 

 the persons employed on shore in the salting, 

 curing, packing, &c. of the fish, are women." 

 Commercial Dictionary (where further sta- 

 tistics may be seen). 



To the foregoing account we may add, that 

 the Cornish Pilchard Fisheries produce, upon 

 an average, 00,000,000 per annum, or 21,000 

 hogsheads of Pilchards ; and that the season 

 of 1845 produced 100,000,000. 



Pilchards frequent both the French and 

 Spanish coasts, but not in very considerable 

 numbers, or with much regularity : the coast j 

 of Cornwall seems to be their native home ; 

 for there they are found through all the 

 seasons of the year. 



PILOT-FISH. (Naucratcs doctor.) This 

 fish is in size and shape like the mackerel, 

 and may be immediately recognized by cer- 

 tain conspicuous bands which surround its 

 body. Its general colour is a silvery grayish 

 blue, darkest on the back ; five dark blue 

 transverse bands pass round the body, and 

 both on the head and tail are slight indica- 

 tions of another band. The head is small, 

 the under jaw rather the longer, and the 

 nose rounded ; the scales are small and oval ; 

 the ventral fins are attached to the abdomen 



by a membrane through one-third of their 

 length ; the pectoral fins are clouded with ; 

 white and blue, the ventrals nearly black, j 

 The Pilot-fish will frequently attend a ship : 

 during its course at sea for weeks or even 

 months together ; and there are many cu- | 

 rious stories told respecting its habits, in ; 

 occasionally directing a Shark where to find | 

 a good meal, and also in warning him when j 

 to avoid a dangerous bait. We shall, how- I 

 ever, leave the relation of such wonders to 

 others ; and be content with observing that 

 the Pilot-fish is frequently found in com- 

 pany with the Shark, and is well rewarded 

 for his attendance in being able to snatch 

 up the morsels which are overlooked by his 

 companion. 



PILUMNUS. A genus of short-tailed 

 Decapod Crustacea: so called from most 

 of the species being more or less covered with 

 long hairs : one species (P. hirtellus) is found 

 on the Biitish coasts. 



PIMELIIDJE. An extensive family of 

 Coleopterous insects, which, although little 

 known in this country, are abundant in 

 Southern and Eastern Europe, and in the 



\ 



deserts of Africa : they are fond of salt and 

 sandy situations, and consequently frequent 

 the shores of the sea, particularly the Me- 



