VARIED USES OF FISIL 267 



their brood. We have already alluded to the attachment 

 of the mEimmalian order for their young. Some fishes leave 

 the depths of the ocean, and deposit their spawn in the 

 shallows, where the young fry are comparatively safe from 

 the voracity of their numerous enemies. Some build nests 

 for their young, as we will further explain in this chapter. 



The eggs of fishes are generally deposited on the surface 

 of the water, where they float during the period of their 

 development. 



It is in the Northern seas that fishes display their most 

 astonishing fecundity — not so much in the variety of species 

 as in the multitude of individuals of a species; and the 

 ocean nowhere else produces an abundance of fish approach- 

 ing to the myriads of herring and cod in that quarter. 



The uses to which fish are applied are numerous. They 

 afi'ord a valuable manure when they are to be had in plenty. 

 Fishery-salt is also a great fertilizer. Pretty ornaments are 

 made from fish-scales, as brooches, bracelets, &c.; the eyes 

 of fishes are also employed by the makers of shell flowers for 

 imitating buds. Mock pearls are made from an essence 

 obtained by scraping the scales off the bleak (a fresh-water 

 fish) and the whitebait. The natives of the north-west 

 coast of this country make from the entrails of fishes brace- 

 lets, fishing-lines, thread, work-bags, head-dresses, and 

 needle-cases ; fish-hooks and needles are made of the bones. 



We have already alluded to isinglass, which is made from 

 the dense membrane which forms the air-bladder of the 

 sturgeon and other fishes. Oil forms a staple article of 

 commerce. The dog-fish is caught principally for the oil 

 from its liver — a large fish yielding about a barrel-full. The 

 skin of this fish is used to refine liquors, clear coffee, &c. 



Our English ancestors were firm believers in the curative 

 properties of certain fish. Pickled herrings were applied 

 to the soles of the feet in fevers; pilchards were in great 

 request for the swellings of the gums and legs ; the flesh of 



