FISHES. 599 



The Sprat (C. Sprattus) has been the subject of a great controversy; 

 one party contending that it is the young of the herring, another that 

 it is a distinct species. Pennant, Yarrell, and many eminent natu- 

 ralists adopt the first view ; yet its specific characters, according to 

 Pennant, are " greater depth of body than the young herring ; gill- 

 covers not veined ; teeth of the lower jaw so small as to be scarcely 

 sensible to the touch ; the dorsal fin placed far back, and the sharp 

 edge of the abdomen more acutely serrated than in the herring." 

 Like the herring, they inhabit the deep water during the summer, 

 following the shoal to the sea-shore in autumn. The sprat fishing 

 commences in November, and continues during the winter months, 

 when they are caught in such numbers that in some localities they 

 have been used as manure. 



In support of the view that the sprat is a good species, the 

 serrated belly and relative position of the fins are dwelt upon, 

 together with the instance detailed by Mr. Mitchell, the Belgian 

 consul at Leith, who exhibited a pair of sprats, having the roe and 

 milt fully developed. 



On the other hand, the abundance of the sprat has been adduced 

 as a reason for its being the young herring. In addition to this, 

 anatomists declare their anatomy shows no difference but size. " As 

 to the serrated belly," says Bertram, " we may look on that as we do 

 on the tuck in a child's frock, namely, as a provision for growth." 

 If this is so, Dr. Bertram's views supply material at once for thought 

 and legislation. " The slaughter of sprats," he says, " is as decided a 

 case of killing the goose with the golden eggs as the grilse slaughter 

 carried on in our salmon rivers." But Dr. Bertram here overlooks a 

 fact of which any one may convince himself, namely, that the young 

 herrings are caught without the serrated belly; nay, the curer's 

 purchase is regulated by the sprat's rough and the herring's smooth 

 belly. 



The Pilchard, Clupea .pilchardus (Fig. 384), sometimes called the 

 Gipsy Herring, visits our coasts all the year round. It was at one time 

 thought, as the herring was, to be migratory, but, like that fish, it is 

 now found to be a native of our own seas, and a constant inhabitant 

 of our shores. It has been known to spawn in May, but the usual 

 time is October; and authorities like Mr. Couch think it breeds only 

 once a year. Its visit to shallow water causes immense excitement ; 

 persons watch night and day from the lofty cliffs along the Cornish 

 coast, and the watchers (locally called " huers ") signal the boats at 

 sea beneath them the moment they see indications of the approach of 

 a shoal. Mr. Wilkie Collins gives an animated picture of the "huer :" 



