176 THE HERRING. 



Mr Mitchell is surprised to find the author of the 

 article " Ichthyology," in the last edition of the ' En- 

 cyclopaedia Britannica,' adopting Pennant's erroneous 

 theory as to " herrings coming from the icy ocean " to 

 this extent, that he quotes it, and says : " In truth, we 

 are not furnished with sufficient data to decide the 

 question ; but, in the mean time, we do not feel in- 

 clined entirely to reject the generally received opinion, 

 that the herrings migrate from north to south in sum- 

 mer and autumn ; " and he then proceeds to describe 

 the " vast troops " which Pennant so fabulously men- 

 tions. He says, " The shoals are generally preceded, 

 sometimes for days, by one or two males ; a very diffi- 

 cult fact to ascertain." Very true ; bul from the am- 

 biguous way in which Mr Mitchell expresses himself, 

 we are in doubt whether this fact rests on the authority 

 of the writer in the Encyclopedia or on that of Pennant. 

 It is very silly to make such an assertion, as no human 

 being can be sure that two big herrings are " acting as 

 guides " of the shoals which they seem to precede ; but 

 having Pennant's statement lying before us, we find in 

 it no reason for fathering this folly upon him. It seems 

 to have been added to it by some lover of the marvel- 

 lous. Moreover, we find reason for questioning the 

 truth of the general belief that this estimable author 

 was the first to propagate what is now deemed a 

 mistake as to the source whence annually come forth 

 those herring-shoals which make the waves of the 

 ocean resplendent with their glittering hues, and supply 

 a never-failing harvest for the sustenance of man, as 

 well as of numerous orders of birds and fishes. Turn- 

 ing to ' Collection Complete des OEuvres de Charles Bon- 

 net,' the eminent Genevese philosopher and naturalist, 

 we discover the apparent source of the now reputed 

 apocryphal migration of the herring from the regions of 

 " thick-ribbed ice/' 



Pennant, an accomplished and benevolent English- 

 man, did good service to Scotland by making its re- 



